ESPN ranks Clemson's all-time College Football Playoff teams |
Clemson has a new entry into ESPN's all-time College Football Playoff team rankings, and Bill Connelly updated his ratings with 12 additions to that field overall ($).
The 10-3 ACC champs are 50th of 52 teams so far in the champion-deciding system that goes back to 2014. "The Tigers thought they had finished their regular season with a loss at South Carolina, but after Miami got upset by Syracuse, Dabo Swinney's team eked out an ACC championship bid and then upset SMU to land its first CFP spot in four years. On paper, this team is basically the same as Swinney's past three -- clearly talented and clearly flawed. We'll see how much noise it can make," Connelly said, placing Clemson just ahead of 2024 conference bye teams Boise State and Arizona State, respectively. The Tigers' top team in the ranking is 2018 Clemson, at No. 5. "Clemson barely survived September unbeaten, needing a 2-point-conversion stop to escape Texas A&M and a rousing comeback led by backup quarterback Chase Brice to beat Syracuse. But once Trevor Lawrence was healthy and established in the starting lineup, no one had any hope against the Tigers. They beat Florida State by 49, Wake Forest by 60 and Louisville by 61, and they won two CFP games by a combined 74-19. Goodness," Connelly wrote. The other five Clemson CFP teams check in at No. 10 (2016 Clemson), No. 12 (2019 Clemson), No. 19 (2015 Clemson), No. 23 (2020 Clemson) and No. 37 (2017 Clemson). The highest-ranked 2024 team on the list is unbeaten Oregon, at No. 15, and Clemson's Dec. 21 opponent Texas is No. 28. "The only thing we don't know whether Texas can do: beat Georgia. The Longhorns are 0-2 against the Bulldogs and 11-0 against everyone else, and they've got both the best linebacking corps and best overall pass defense in the CFP. When there's a question mark, it comes on the offensive side of the ball, but in theory a couple of weeks off could make a big difference for both hobbled star tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and quarterback Quinn Ewers," Connelly wrote. The No. 1 overall team on the yearly list remains 2020 Alabama.
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