Clemson a unanimous Playoff selection in second-chance midseason expert picks

Clemson is picked to win the ACC by one CBS analyst and picked to host in the first round by two more.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Thursday, October 17 2024

Halfway through the regular season, Clemson's Tigers have impressed, and they are a unanimous pick for the new 12-team postseason format on CBS Sports.

The panel did a midseason reset of Playoff predictions and more, where Clemson is as high as a 3-seed and picked ACC champion (one, Chip Patterson). In a likely Peach Bowl host site, Clemson would face the winner of 11-seed BYU at 6-seed Penn State from the CFP first round.

The majority have the Tigers as an at-large with Miami as the predicted ACC champ.

Some first-round Playoff matchups in those picks include: 6-seed Clemson hosting 11-seed Indiana (Richard Johnson); 8-seed Clemson hosting 9-seed BYU (Shehan Jeyarajah); 10-seed Clemson traveling to 7-seed Tennessee (Tom Fornelli); 10-seed Clemson heading to 7-seed Georgia (Jerry Palm and Will Backus); and 12-seed Clemson going to 5-seed Ohio State (David Cobb).

Ohio State is favored to win the CFP (four picks), followed by Texas (three picks) and Georgia (one).

For the uninitiated, the new 12-team Playoff format features byes for the Top 4 ranked conference champions, one more spot for a conference champion as they are seeded and seven at-large bids also. The first round features seeds 5-8 hosting seeds 9-12 (Dec. 20-21), and then the next rounds are hosted at traditional bowl sites (Dec. 31-Jan. 1 for the quarters; Jan. 9-10 for the semis), with the national championship in Atlanta (Jan. 20).

Elsewhere on the site, Fornelli used his QB power rankings for an apology to Cade Klubnik, who he has as the No. 4 QB on the list now:

Ladies and gentlemen, we gather here today for our weekly meeting at the QB Power Rankings Town Hall with one item -- and one item only -- on our agenda: an apology to Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik.

I've been hard on Cade, and I don't just mean because I've rarely included him in these rankings over the last two seasons. No, I've been vocally critical of his overall play. I believed he was one of Clemson's bigger weak spots...

Then the season started, and Klubnik was a mess against Georgia. He turned the ball over, took too many sacks and missed too many throws. I made sure to say loudly at the time that I wouldn't judge Clemson too harshly because of the competition, but I didn't offer the same grace to Klubnik. My mind was already made up on that.

Ever since, Klubnik has repeatedly reminded me I should've offered him the same leeway. He's been phenomenal. In Clemson's last five games, he's tallied 21 touchdowns with only one interception. He's completing over 67% of his passes for 8.9 yards per attempt and has a passer efficiency rating of 177.8. That's a top-five kind of number. Even with the Georgia game included, Klubnik ranks 15th nationally with a rating of 164.92. His 21 total touchdowns rank fifth. He has looked every bit the five-star prospect he was coming out of Westlake High School in Austin, Texas and has the seventh-best betting odds to win the Heisman Trophy at +2000 according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

And I'm sorry I ever doubted him. It won't happen again. He's ranked this week, and he'll probably stay on the list most weeks from here on out.