Saturday was a big day for 17th-ranked Clemson and it had nothing to do with its 51-14 win over The Citadel, though that was important.
No, Saturday was big because six teams ranked ahead of the Tigers lost. Caught in the fray was No. 5 Indiana, No. 7 Alabama, No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 14 BYU, No. 15 Texas A&M and No. 16 Colorado.
It lays out the possibility that a win over rival and No. 18 South Carolina this coming Saturday should set the Tigers up for a possible at-large bid to the College Football Playoff.
Or will it?
Not if SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and his ESPN minions have anything to say about it. ESPN is already pushing its propaganda that a three-loss SEC team deserves to get into the CFP over a two-loss team from the ACC, which right now would be Clemson or a two-loss Miami or SMU team.
Tuesday’s CFP rankings will tell us a lot on where Clemson is in the committee’s mind as a legitimate at-large team. If the Tigers are ranked anywhere from 11-13 in the ranking, then Clemson is in contention to make the playoff with a win over the Gamecocks.
If the Tigers are ranked below No. 13 in the rankings, then their chances of making the CFP as at-large team is slim-to-none. It means the ESPN spin of three-loss SEC teams being ranked ahead of a two-loss ACC team worked, and that would be a travesty.
The way I see it, the CFP ranking should be similar to this on Tuesday night:
- Oregon 11-0
- Ohio State 10-1
- Texas 10-1
- Penn State 10-1
- Notre Dame 10-1
- Miami 10-1
- Georgia 9-2
- Tennessee 9-2
- SMU 10-1
- Indiana 10-1
- Clemson 9-2
- Boise State 10-1
- Alabama 8-3
- Ole Miss 8-3
- South Carolina 8-3
- Tulane 9-2
- Arizona State 9-2
- Iowa State 9-2
- Texas A&M 8-3
- Missouri 8-3
- BYU 9-2
- Colorado 8-3
- UNLV 9-2
- Illinois 8-3
- Army 9-1
However, ESPN already has some of its on-air talent and its writers saying Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M–who was just two spots ahead of Clemson in this past week’s rankings–should still be ranked ahead of the Tigers.
Let’s get this straight, an Alabama team that lost by three touchdowns at 5-5 Oklahoma deserves to be ranked ahead of Clemson? Ole Miss, who lost at 4-6 Florida, deserves to be ahead of Clemson? Texas A&M, who lost at 4-6 Auburn, deserves to be ahead of Clemson?
Also, all three teams have three losses.
I know someone out there is reading this and probably saying, “Clemson should have taken care of its business against Louisville and it would not be in this situation.”
That’s bull crap.
Yes, Clemson’s strength of schedule is not strong, but beating a top 15 South Carolina team should benefit the Tigers, but it will not because Clemson will likely not be ranked high enough for that to matter. When looking at Clemson’s two losses and comparing them to who Alabama, Ole Miss and A&M lost to, it is not even comparable.
Clemson’s two losses are to 9-2 Georgia and 7-4 Louisville.
A two-loss Clemson should get in over all three of those SEC teams because all three of those teams lost to teams with losing or .500 records on Saturday.
When do we start punishing SEC teams for losing to bad and average teams?
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips and his people need to get out there and start defending its teams the way Sankey already has his ESPN minions doing the same for him.
I don’t know if Phillips has that kind of clout, but he should at least try. Get on the radio, television, podcast and do whatever it takes to take care of Miami, SMU and Clemson.
Do not let Florida State happen again. And if you don’t try, understand this is one reason why Clemson and FSU want out of the ACC.