This year's overall schedule compared to last year's...
Nov 15, 2016, 5:00 PM
I don't necessarily think last year's team was better than this year's, or that this year's team is necessarily worse than last year's.
That is, I do not think the 2015 Clemson team would've been capable of going undefeated with this year's schedule. Likely, if we had "last year's" squad playing, we'd probably be sitting at 8-2.
Our last year's 12-0 regular season came against a softer schedule. After we clinched the division, we finished the season with three games against teams that ended the year at 3-9, and even we struggled at times against them. Five of our FBS opponents finished the regular season with losing records (all at 3-9).
On the other hand, we're closing this year's regular season against teams that have been surging their way into bowl eligibility (Pitt happened to be one of them). Wake is improved from last year, and SC appears to be as well. Additionally, we have more wins over ranked teams at this time than we did a year ago.