For the fifth straight week, the Clemson Tigers rose in the weekly Top 25 polls, to No. 10 in the AP and to No. 11 in the US LBM Coaches Poll. It stands to reason that the Tigers also rose in various College Football Playoff projection models and power rankings.
Clemson moved into the Top 10 of ESPN’s Power Rankings following Week 6’s 29-13 victory over the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee. The Tigers landed at No. 8 in ESPN’s Power Rankings.
As for Clemson’s College Football Playoff hopes, ESPN’s Heather Dinich (subscription required) has the Tigers at No. 4 on her list of one-loss teams entering the week. Clemson trails only the Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers in that category.
In her 12-team playoff projection following Week 6, Dinich has the Tigers at No. 9 overall. She warns that with Louisville’s loss to SMU over the weekend, Clemson may not have a single win against a Top 25 team on its resume when the selection committee meets later this year, unless No. 24 Pitt stays in the rankings.
Per Dinich:
“If Clemson doesn’t win the ACC, that will be a part of the discussion in the committee meeting room — unless the Tigers continue to dominate their opponents and leave no doubt they’re a playoff team in spite of being in a weak league.”
At On3, veteran college football writer Andy Staples still has Clemson as his pick to win the ACC and projects the Tigers as a No. 3 seed in the playoff. It’s the second week in a row that Staples has given the Tigers the nod over the Miami Hurricanes in the ACC race.
As a No. 3 seed, Clemson would face the winner of the first round game between the No. 6 seed and No. 11 seed in the Peach Bowl. Staples has the Penn State Nittany Lions as his No. 6 seed and Texas A&M Aggies as the No. 11 seed.
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247Sports’ Brad Crawford also favors Clemson to win the ACC over Miami to garner the No. 3 seed. He sees the Tigers facing the Oregon Ducks (projected No. 6 seed) in the Peach Bowl.
Over at CBS Sports, Clemson moved up one spot in analyst Jerry Palm’s updated playoff projections. Palm sees the Tigers as the No. 10 seed in the playoff field and facing Georgia in a rematch in the postseason at Sanford Stadium in Athens. The Texas Longhorns were the projected No. 1 overall seed in Palm’s predictions.
Also at CBS, Brandon Marcello moved Clemson up three spots to No. 7 in his weekly Power Rankings. The Tigers are ranked one spot ahead of Alabama at No. 8 and one spot below Penn State at No. 6.
Marcello said of Clemson:
“Dabo Swinney is officially the king of the ACC. He surpassed Bobby Bowden for the most career wins in ACC history (174) with a 29-13 victory against rival Florida State. The offense had been on a tear of late but was held under 40 points for the first time since the Week 1 loss to Georgia. Cade Klubnik still threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns, and Phil Mafah rushed for 154 yards. It’s a shame we may not see Clemson vs. Miami until the ACC Championship Game. The only nationally ranked team remaining on the schedule is Pitt.”
At The Athletic (subscription-required), analyst David Ubben lists Clemson and Miami as “definitely in” — though in no projected order of finish — on his College Football Playoff Bubble Watch.
At Fox Sports, RJ Young moved Clemson up three spots to No. 7 in his weekly Top 25 rankings. The Tigers are ranked one spot below Miami.
Next up on the schedule for Clemson are the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in a noon ET kickoff Saturday in Winston-Salem. The game will be televised on ESPN.
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