Chaotic college football weekend gives Tigers' playoff hopes some life support

A trip back to ACC Championship game looked like a longshot after Clemson's loss to Louisville, but things have opened up a bit now. (Photo: Jim Dedmon / USATODAY)

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Monday, November 11 2024

BYU, Oregon, Indiana, and Army.

What do all of those teams have in common? They are the four lone unbeaten units in the world of FBS college football. Just like we drew it up in August.

Another weekend of football has come and gone, further fleshing out the incomplete canvas that is the playoff picture. Within that work of art, does Clemson find itself with postseason life? Following a home thrashing to Louisville, the Tigers' path to punch their postseason ticket appeared utterly dead. But have the Tigers found their emergency first aid kit and begun getting life support?

Looking around at the weekend slate, there continues to be just enough to give fans some hope. Even if that hope is pretty slim, keeping things interesting never hurts anybody. The race for the postseason continues to grow, and Clemson hasn’t heard the bell.

Ole Miss 28, Georgia 10

The shocker of the weekend saw Lane Kiffin improve to 4-15 against AP top-10 opponents. Not only did this save the Rebels in their own postseason hunt, but it also threw the race for the SEC Championship into chaos.

There are currently five teams in the top eight of the SEC standings with two losses who haven’t been technically eliminated.

As it stands, Tennessee and Texas A&M are the leaders of the clubhouse, both holding a 5-1 record in conference play. That lead could further delve into more insanity as Texas travels to Kyle Field in two weeks, and the Vols travel to Athens to face a reeling Bulldogs squad.

The SEC very well could beat each other up into submission, potentially leaving a pretty good football team out of the playoff picture.

The more chaos within this conference, the better for Clemson’s CFP at-large chances.

Georgia Tech 28, Miami 23

The Yellow Jackets quickly became the darling of the Clemson faithful, as Brent Key’s unit became bowl-eligible with an upset bid over Miami Saturday afternoon.

Before kickoff in Blacksburg, the ACC race became slightly more manageable. Despite the injury shuffling at quarterback, the Yellow Jacket offense ran through the Hurricanes’ defense and put more pressure on Miami’s trip to Charlotte.

Clemson has to take care of its business in Pittsburgh to keep pace, but what once seemed impossible is now less impractical to think about.

Kansas 45, Iowa State 36

Iowa State’s at-large bid has fallen completely apart.

This game is significant as the movement around Clemson’s current CFP ranking might receive a slight bump.

The Cyclones falling to a three-win Jayhawks team likely means the committee will boot Iowa State out of the top 25.

With Clemson needing help from every corner of the country, this result can only benefit a Tiger team that needs all the help it can get.

South Carolina 28, Vanderbilt 7

Vanderbilt’s run as the darlings of college football has been slowly snuffed out as the Commodores have started to stack losses.

While neither team was ranked on Saturday’s matchup, most assume the Gamecocks will get the nod and launch inside the playoff committee’s rankings.

Sticking with the theme of Clemson needing as much help as possible, the better South Carolina is, the more the Tigers can benefit.

As it stands, Clemson’s most impressive wins of the season have come against both Virginia teams, which both have only five wins on the season.

With Pittsburgh losing to Virginia, the possibility of the first-ranked win of the season will have to wait. If the ACC race is off the table, a late-season push for a stronger resume will likely come on rivalry weekend.

Alabama 42, LSU 13

Long gone are the Alabama message boards begging for Dabo Swinney to save a ship that was taking on some water.

Rather, Kalen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide is steadily sailing once again, making LSU walk the plank out of the playoff race.

This helps Clemson by likely eliminating LSU from any talk of being a postseason team, as it now has a third loss on the year.

With back-to-back double-digit losses and a loss to USC in the opener that continues to look worse, the Bayou Bengals' resume takes a sharp nosedive.

LSU can’t participate in the chaos of the SEC standings, now with tiebreakers to Alabama and Texas A&M, but it doesn’t have any more quality wins to help boost its slim chances.

Again, Clemson's playoff chances are not the highest, but this weekend did this team plenty of favors. Plenty of football is left, and the Tigers still have a shot at reclaiming some footing in Tuesday’s committee rankings.