From what he has seen this year, Dan Radakovich thinks Clemson is one of the four best teams in the country. Unfortunately, the committee he served on for four years does not think so, at least not at this time.
On Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff Committee revealed its first rankings of the 2019 football season and they listed four teams they think are better than the Tigers right now. The CFP Committee has Ohio State atop the poll, followed by LSU at No. 2, Alabama at No. 3 and Penn State at No. 4.
Clemson came in at No. 5.
Heather Dinich, who covers the CFP exclusively for ESPN, reported on Twitter Tuesday night that committee chairman Rob Mullens said on a teleconference call that Alabama “is just better” than Penn State and Clemson. He said they based that opinion on the eye test over the resume.
Radakovich, who served on the CFP Committee from 2014-’17, does not agree.
“I think we are one of the four best teams in the country,” he said to The Clemson Insider just prior to the rankings being released. “I don’t really want to talk about other teams, but I do think that right now, by the way we are playing, with the team that we have and how we have been able to dominate the opponents, I think we are one of the four best teams that I have been able to see throughout the year.”
Clemson (9-0, 6-0 ACC) has dominated its opposition, despite a popular narrative that it has not. The Tigers have won eight of their nine games by 14 or more points, including seven wins by 31 or more points.
Despite a few hiccups early in the season, the Clemson offense is on a record-pace for yards and points this season, while the defense has been one of the top 10 units in almost every defensive category to this point and is No. 1 in the nation in defensive efficiency. The offense is ranked No. 7.
The Tigers are the only team in the country ranked in the top 4 in both total offense and total defense. In case you are wondering, Alabama is ranked second in offensive efficiency and No. 6 in defensive efficiency.
However, a one-point win on the road at North Carolina seems to be haunting the Tigers. Clemson’s No. 5 ranking marks the first time in 24 weeks the Tigers have not been in the committee’s top 4.
“Everybody looks at that through a different prism. Some people are very data driven. So, they will look and see where those teams are as it relates to relative scoring offense, relative scoring defense and what their schedule strength is,” Radakovich said. “Other people, maybe coaches, are like, ‘Well, you can only play who you can play, so I am going to watch you and make my ranking based on what I see.’
“So, that is what makes the committee work really well because you just don’t have one way of analyzing the data. You have 13 different ways of analyzing the data and that is when it all gets put out there and people make different points, ask questions and the staff, if you wanted to know a certain stat, they would find it and kind of move it forward for you to kind of put into your thought process or share with others.”
Radakovich says the discussion piece of the CFP Committee is really the most interesting part of the entire process.
“Understanding ‘Why do you feel like Alabama is three, Clemson is four and Penn State is five? When I really think it is Clemson, Penn State and Alabama?’ So, you sit there, and you talk through what the reasons are for people to get there. Then at the end of some amount of discussion period, it kind of all just goes away. Everybody votes and that is just the way it is.”
When he was on the committee, Radakovich said he was able to watch a lot of games, but he also had a good mixture of the data as well.
“Again, tonight’s ranking is nice, but it is not important. The last one is the one that is important,” he said. “A lot of times you will find the data at the end of the year follows the eye test or the eye test follows the data. That is what is really kind of interesting with the whole process.
“Where you are today with a team, two thirds of the way though the season, by the end, you may not be as high on that team. But by the same token, someone you are not really high on right now can play some really good games, good opponents and really dominate the game and then change in your eyes.”
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