Yahoo ranked all of the postseason matchups scheduled to date, assessing Clemson's trip to Texas the No. 4 matchup in the season:
4. No. 12 Clemson vs. No. 5 Texas (Dec. 21, 4 p.m. ET, TNT) Just how dangerous is a Clemson team playing with house money? The Tigers escaped the ACC title game with a 34-31 win over SMU to get into the playoff. Texas wasn’t dinged for its second loss to Georgia, and, well, the Longhorns have been unbeatable against anyone not named Georgia this season. Clemson also had its own issues with Georgia. The Tigers lost 34-3 to the Bulldogs in Week 1.
The SEC-B1G battle in Columbus between 8-seed Ohio State and 9-seed Tennessee topped the ranking. The worst one comes in Idaho with the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl pitting 7-5 NIU and 6-6 Fresno State on a Monday afternoon (Dec. 23/2:30 p.m./ESPN).
That's true, but they haven't really played a top team OTHER than Georgia.
Texas A&M is the next strong team and they aren't even ranked.
Yes, they took care of business, but that schedule is weak. Yes, we stumbled, but we at least took down a playoff team in SMU.
I don't think it's a function of "look who we beat/look who we lost to". It's MORE a function of "which Clemson team shows up". Louisville didn't beat us because they are better than us. They beat us because we played TERRIBLY.
I just don't think Texas's record means a ton. The game will be tough on the road against a strong team...not an invincible "nobody can touch them except the SEC Champ UGA" team.