Playoff committee releases updated Clemson ranking

Clemson's CFP chances went up with its ACC chances over the weekend.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Tuesday, November 12 2024

Clemson had its first chance to see what a win could do to its College Football Playoff committee ranking, and the Tigers moved up.

After a 24-14 victory at Virginia Tech, Clemson was ranked No. 20, rising three spots.

Out of Saturday's result, The Athletic's model had Clemson up to a 38% CFP chance and even odds with Miami (36%) for winning the ACC, ahead of SMU (26%). ESPN's Playoff Predictor returned the Tigers to double-digit CFP chances at 17%, which boost to 46% by winning out even without an ACC title game appearance. Another ESPN analytics tool gives Clemson a 19% chance to make the ACC Championship Game.

This new 12-team edition of the College Football Playoff will be settled with the final CFP committee rankings on Dec. 8. The four highest-ranked conference champions will occupy the top four seeds for a first-round bye. The remaining spots will be filled out by as many as seven at-large teams, with one more highest-ranked conference champion guaranteed a spot also according to their ranking.

Outside of some chaos and an unbeaten run to an at-large place, Clemson’s easiest CFP path is by Miami (5-1 ACC) and/or SMU (5-0 ACC) falling back to them and the Tigers (6-1 ACC) getting entry to the ACC Championship with a Top 2 seed and winning. With dates hosting Wake Forest (Nov. 23; T-12 ACC) and traveling to Syracuse (Nov. 30; T-7 ACC) left, another Miami loss is the ticket currently if the Tigers can take care of business at Pitt on Saturday (noon/ESPN). SMU hosts Boston College (Nov. 16; T-11 ACC), travels to Virginia (Nov. 23; T-7) and hosts Cal (Nov. 30; 15th).

Any three-team tiebreaker with Miami and SMU results in those two advancing since the common opponents are Florida State and Louisville (SMU and Miami went 2-0; Clemson went 1-1).

In the traditional polls, Clemson was ranked No. 16 in the Coaches Poll and No. 17 in the AP Top 25.

The CFP will play the first round on campus sites, with seeds 5-8 hosting seeds 9-12. The quarterfinal round will be hosted at bowl sites, with the Rose, Peach, Sugar, and Fiesta bowls, and then the semifinals will be held at the Cotton and Orange bowls. The national championship will be held on Jan. 20 in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

2024 CFP committee: Chris Ault (former head coach and athletics director, University of Nevada), Chet Gladchuk (athletics director, U.S. Naval Academy), Jim Grobe (former head coach, Ohio University, Wake Forest and Baylor), Warde Manuel (chair) (athletics director, University of Michigan), Randall McDaniel (College and Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former All-American offensive lineman, Arizona State University); Gary Pinkel (former head coach, University of Toledo and University of Missouri); Mack Rhoades (athletics director, Baylor University); Mike Riley (former college head coach, Oregon State and Nebraska, as well as head coach in the NFL, CFL, WLAF, AAF and USFL), David Sayler (athletics director, Miami University, OH), Will Shields (College and Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former All-American offensive lineman, University of Nebraska), Kelly Whiteside (professor in Sports Media and Journalism, Montclair State University; longtime sportswriter, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and Newsday), Carla Williams (athletics director, University of Virginia) and Hunter Yurachek (athletics director, University of Arkansas).

ACC tiebreakers

Playoff Top 25

1. Oregon (Projected CFP conference champ auto bid #1 seed)

2. Ohio State (Projected CFP at-large)

3. Texas (Projected CFP conference champ auto bid #2 seed)

4. Penn State (Projected CFP at-large)

5. Indiana (Projected CFP at-large)

6. BYU (Projected CFP conference champ auto bid #3 seed)

7. Tennessee (Projected CFP at-large)

8. Notre Dame (Projected CFP at-large)

9. Miami (Projected CFP conference champ auto bid #4 seed)

10. Alabama (Projected CFP at-large)