Former Florida and Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen has spent a lot of time and had a lot of success as a head coach in his career; it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about football.
Mullen recently released his college football playoff predictions this past Friday, with the former head coach giving the No.4 spot to an ACC team. While Clemson may be the highest ranked team out the gates in the ACC, Mullen selected North Carolina State as his No.4 team to make the CFP.
Alabama and Ohio State stacking up as the No.1 and No.2 seed is no surprise, but the addition of two new teams who would appear in their first CFP in history in a No.3 Utah Utes and No.4 NC State Wolfpack is an interesting call. The playoff has been consistent, with the same group of teams making it year in and year out, so the two new faces would change things up quite a bit.
Looking at No.4 Clemson and No.13 NC State on paper, the Tigers should be the better team. On the other hand, you could say the same thing about the Tigers team last season, who were dealt a 27-21 loss in double overtime at NC State. The two top dogs in the ACC will face off on October 1st in Clemson at a time to be determined in what should shake up to be a make-or-break game for both teams.
Will the Wolfpack take two straight against the Tigers? It’s hard to say, though, if I had to pick a winner right now, I don’t see Swinney and Clemson dropping this game again. It will be a matchup of two powerhouse defenses and has all pieces to become an instant classic.
What may not be a surprise is Mullen picking perennial powerhouse Alabama to take home another championship.
— Dan Mullen (@CoachDanMullen) September 2, 2022
Clemson Wire will continue our coverage of Clemson’s pursuit for a other college football playoff appearance.