Barrett Carter tries not to pay much attention to the College Football Playoff rankings or how the teams ahead of Clemson in the rankings are faring on a weekly basis.
Instead, the sophomore linebacker’s focus lies on the Tigers’ next opponent each week and what he needs to do to help his team win its own game.
“I’m really focused on the game that we’re about to play,” Carter said Monday. “Honestly, I look at the rankings just to see what’s new and everything. But I’m really just focused on us as a team and just leading the guys, focused on what opponent we have next. I try not to really focus on any other team but us, just because I want to help lead our team and just help us gain success. So, I try not to pay attention to it.”
Carter admitted he does, however, take a peek at where the playoff committee puts the Tigers in their weekly rankings released on Tuesdays.
“I do check our rankings, though,” he said. “I do check that, for sure.”
Clemson (10-1, 8-0 ACC) moved up one spot to No. 9 in the latest set of CFP rankings that came out a week ago. The Tigers started out at No. 4 in the initial playoff rankings before tumbling to No. 10 after their upset loss at Notre Dame on Nov. 5.
The CFP committee’s top four has stayed the same over the last two weeks, with Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU comprising the No. 1-4 spots, respectively.
Tennessee, LSU, Southern Cal, Alabama, Clemson and Utah rounded out the top 10 of the latest CFP rankings, in that order. Of the teams ahead of Clemson, only Tennessee lost this past Saturday, falling 63-38 at South Carolina.
The new CFP rankings will be unveiled Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN). It’s the fourth of six sets of rankings that are released weekly through November and in early December. The final CFP top 25 will be announced on selection day, which is Sunday, Dec. 4.
If Clemson wins out, beating South Carolina on Saturday and then winning the ACC Championship Game vs. North Carolina, does Carter feel pretty good about the Tigers’ chances of making the playoff?
“I do feel really good about it,” he said. “Anything can happen in college football on any given Saturday. So, I feel good about our chances. But if it’s not meant to be, then shoot, we’ll play in whatever game and we’re gonna get the win. But I’m really confident about it. I think we’ll be in a good spot.”
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