CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Clemson returns to action under the lights versus Louisville.
Clemson returns to action under the lights versus Louisville.

Updated Clemson postseason projections, ESPN week by week outlook


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Home Playoff game? Road Playoff game? Another Gator Bowl trip? The national Clemson predictions run the gamut ahead of restarting ACC play this weekend.

ESPN's bowl predictors are split on the Tigers' Playoff shot currently ($), with Mark Schlabach picking a Clemson home game versus Indiana as an 8-seed and then advancing to face a Big Ten champ Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Oregon is picked then to advance to the semis and final.

ESPN's Kyle Bonagura predicts a matchup you might've expected in a bigger bowl preseason, with Clemson-Alabama in the Gator on Jan. 2.

Elsewhere, CBS Sports' Jerry Palm projects a Clemson road trip to 6-seed Texas, with the Tigers grabbing the last at-large CFP bid. The winner would move on to face predicted ACC champ Miami in the Peach Bowl.

CFN picks Clemson to win the ACC and take on Notre Dame in the Peach Bowl CFP quarterfinal. Miami snags the last at-large bid for a trip to Oregon. Neither are picked to advance out of the quarters, however.

247Sports also predicts Clemson to take the conference crown and face Texas in the presumed Peach Bowl. Miami is seen as an at-large and is also predicted to make the quarterfinal round versus Georgia. Both are picked to lose in that round, however, setting up All-B1G (Ohio State-Oregon) and All-SEC (Texas-Georgia) CFP semis.

ESPN's Bill Connelly did a week-by-week projection look at the college football road ahead, which starts back Saturday versus Louisville for Clemson's Tigers (7:30 p.m./ESPN).

Connelly had a tongue-in-cheek Clemson reference out of the last weekend for the ACC picture, where his model has Clemson as an 8-point favorite for Saturday versus the Cardinals.

"With Pitt facing SMU, we'll also basically whittle the contenders list in the ACC down from four to three," Connelly said. "SP+ currently gives Miami a 55% chance of winning the league, but Clemson (20%), SMU (15%) and Pitt (6%) all have a puncher's chance. Virginia Tech (3%) and Louisville (1%) might as well, but they're obviously further back. Between Miami's easy Week 9 win over Florida State and an impressive performance from Pitt against Syracuse, Clemson's title odds dropped by 7% without the Tigers playing a game. You've got to win the bye weeks, Dabo Swinney!"

For the weeks after, the SP+ projection is Clemson by 3.3 points at Virginia Tech and 3.1 at Pitt. For the regular season finale, Clemson is given a 9.5-point edge over South Carolina.

"Also, if you're a fan of the Chaos Superfectas in my Friday columns, I should note that with the current odds, SP+ says there's only a 38% chance that Clemson (72% win probability against South Carolina), Notre Dame (69% against USC), Alabama (86% against Auburn) and Ohio State (88% against Michigan) all beat their underdog rivals. And I didn't even throw in Tennessee (83% against Vandy) or Oregon (89% against Washington). Someone will have either their playoff seeding or their season ruined at the hands of a rueful rival in Week 14," Connelly said.

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