On Sirius XM’s show Full Ride, former college football head coach Rick Neuheisel spoke about Clemson and other teams in the College Football Playoff picture, including Georgia and Tennessee.
“I’m just sitting here going, Georgia and Tennessee are going to play, right, so one of them’s going to win that game,” said Neuheisel, who served as the head coach at Colorado (1995-98), Washington (1999-2002) and UCLA (2008-11). “And Tennessee’s got a tough game against Kentucky next week. They may get beat by Kentucky before. So, pump the breaks on all this.”
Oregon may be the Pac-12’s best playoff hope, though the Ducks got shellacked by Georgia 49-3 in the season opener back in early September, and Neuheisel doesn’t see the conference fielding a playoff team.
“I don’t think the Pac-12 can get in, Oregon right now leading,” he said. “Everybody can’t forget 49-3, right. 49-3 has diminished the Pac-12. That’s just a fact.”
Neuheisel believes TCU would have the advantage over Clemson as far as strength of schedule if the Horned Frogs go undefeated, but he doesn’t buy that they can finish the season with an unblemished record.
“TCU, if they win out, their schedule has been tougher than Clemson’s,” he said. “But do you really believe TCU’s winning out? No, I don’t believe it. So, let’s just put them aside.”
As for Alabama, Neuheisel can see the one-loss Crimson Tide potentially winning out and winning the SEC to stake its claim for a playoff spot. But he says “something’s amiss” with Nick Saban’s team, which bounced back from its loss to Tennessee two weeks ago with a 30-6 win over Mississippi State in Tuscaloosa this past Saturday.
“Alabama winning all the way through Atlanta? We can see that, although they’ve not looked good,” he said. “They ran for 29 yards against Mississippi State. Something’s amiss there.”
Neuheisel isn’t counting out Clemson as a playoff and national title contender, but he doesn’t think the Tigers are one of the country’s top four teams.
“Clemson might very well get in, might win it. But it’s a plod deal right now because they’ve looked vulnerable,” he said. “Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee and Michigan are the best four teams. End of story.”
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