Swinney: 'I don't see how you can't put us in' Playoff with win over Gamecocks

Dabo Swinney believes he has a Playoff-worthy QB and a team that can play with anybody.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Nov 27, 2024, 4:16 PM

Clemson currently sits one spot out of a projected College Football Playoff field, according to the CFP committee's latest rankings.

With five conference champions guaranteed in, the latest CFP field means an at-large team would need to get to No. 11 in the rankings for a place and a first-round road trip.

Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney was asked to make his CFP case for the team on Wednesday.

"I think us and Georgia of the two-loss teams, those two teams have the best (combined) records, I think 16-6. I think that's the best of any two-loss teams out there...Louisville is a good football team that can compete with anybody on any given day, and we had a bad day. We stunk. They played well, but you know what, there are a lot of people having a bad day," Swinney started his point with on the Gramlich and Mac Lain podcast. "You can have a bad day. That's just -- you hate it. You want to be perfect. And Georgia...it's 6-0 at the half, and we had about three plays in the third quarter, but if you really watch the tape and know what you're looking at, we weren't outmatched in that game. We weren't."

Swinney says his team could've been in a different place by not scheduling a No. 1 Georgia out of the gates, but he wouldn't have had it any other way.

"That's why I love those games. Our guys, we need to be exposed to that," Swinney said. "We coulda played XYZ Group of 5 University, and now we're sitting here instead of 9-2, we're 10-1, with one loss on a not-so-great day, and you're having a different conversation, right? We go out and schedule people. That's what we've always done. And you play the schedule that you've got.

"That's the one thing, and the second thing is we've got seven Power conference wins, I think that's like fourth in the nation. Of those Power conference wins, six of them were double-digits -- that's tied for first in the nation. I think we've got one of the best offenses in the country. We've got a quarterback (Cade Klubnik) playing at a high level that's incredibly capable. We've got a Butkus finalist on defense (Barrett Carter)."

Overall, Swinney just sees the makeup of a Playoff team, but they have to go earn it on Saturday versus the No. 15 and rival South Carolina Gamecocks (noon/ESPN).

"We're a good football team," Swinney said. "We're not perfect. We're flawed like everybody else. Everybody has some flaws, but we're a team that I think can play with anybody in the country. It's not easy to win. We just had our 14th nine-win season in a row. It's only happened four times in the history of football. So we're a program of consistency. So there's a lot of reasons, but the main reason would be: winning this week.

"Listen, we've got that opportunity, and quite frankly, so does South Carolina. This is a Top 15 matchup, and it would be one of the best wins in the country, on anybody's resume, when you look at it. Again, nobody gets control over who you schedule other than the non-conference. So, there are a lot of reasons. When we go win this game and we're 10-2, I don't see how you can't put us in."

Swinney was asked about his comments on the 12-team Playoff being just "an SEC-B1G Invitational." He says that's been the case for a while, and his program has succeeded anyway.

"It is the 'SEC-Big Ten Invitational' and Notre Dame makes up their own rules -- always have," Swinney said. "We've been on the R.O.Y. (rest of y'all) team forever. We have. It's been SEC-Big Ten-Notre Dame and the rest of y'all. It's been that way my whole time at Clemson, but guess what? Check our records. Versus all of them. Check our records. We've been on that team, and we're still on that team, and we've been able to win at the highest level. But you've got to earn it. You've got to earn it.

"What's also been demonstrated is that if you do earn it, you'll get the opportunity. It might be somebody else's invitational, but they'll let you in. They'll give you a seat at the table. But then you got to handle your business. It's really not complicated. None of it matters. We can make all the case you want, but you've got to win the game this weekend. That's what we've got.

"This is a Playoff game this weekend. I think for both teams. I think it's awesome to be a part of that. It really is. Again, you can't let the pressure of the moment be greater than the pleasure of the moment...You got to love it..."

Clemson can also enter the CFP field by clinching a spot in the ACC Championship Game and winning it for one of those five conference champion spots. For that to happen, the Tigers' only route this Saturday is Miami losing as a 10.5-point favorite at Syracuse (3:30 p.m./ESPN), which would set up a meeting with SMU next week in Charlotte.