National outlet projects Clemson return to Playoff, first-round road trip

Clemson looks to make its return to the CFP, and Sporting News says the Tigers will be in the first road CFP games.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Sunday, June 30 2024

Sporting News released its Playoff projections recently, and it features Clemson in a new phase of the expanded CFP.

The CFP will move to 12 teams this year with five conference champions and seven at-large selections. The Top 4 conference champions will occupy the Top 4 seeds and get a first-round bye, and that first round will occur at the higher seeds' home stadiums.

In this prediction, SN's Bill Bender predicts Florida State will win the ACC and occupy the No. 4 seed, and Clemson will then make it two bids for the conference with a No. 9 seed. In that scenario, Clemson travels to Tuscaloosa to face 8-seed Alabama for the round that goes from Dec. 20-21.

"Again? Alabama and Clemson met four times in the four-team College Football Playoff, and that included three national championship games. The coaching matchup between Kalen DeBoer and Dabo Swinney will generate more than enough conversation here, and Nick Saban's presence will be felt in the first on-campus playoff game at Bryant-Denny Stadium," Bender writes.

Bender predicts the Crimson Tide to advance on to face 1-seed Georgia in the next round in the Peach Bowl.

Elsewhere, 247Sports updated its postseason projections and picked a Utah-Clemson matchup in the Orlando-based Pop Tarts Bowl.

"The Utes and Tigers have never met on the gridiron, so needless to say this would be one of bowl season's most-anticipated matchups outside of the College Football Playoff," 247Sports' Brad Crawford said. "It would also means organizers in Orlando lobbied for both selections, high-end finishers in the Big 12 and ACC not quite good enough to be voted in the playoff. Utah is one of the trendy picks to win the Big 12, but few are taking Clemson to unseat Florida State at the top of the ACC."

That 247Sports projection also picks FSU to win the league.

Clemson is seeking its first CFP bid since 2020, which was the sixth Playoff appearance in a row for Dabo Swinney's Tigers.