Dabo Swinney and the Tigers had a much-needed bye in Week 7 after one of their worst performances of the season against Wake Forest.
During their bye week, Clemson’s coaches and players had opportunities to reflect on their season so far and work on what they deemed most necessary to improve as a team. The talent on this roster is tremendous; they just need to put it all together and show it on the field.
Following their bye week, the Tigers dropped two spots from No.11 to No.13 in ESPN’s latest SP+ ($$$) rankings update. What is ESPN’s SP+? Here’s a little breakdown.
SP+ is indeed intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling — no good predictive system is. It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.
There isn’t much to assess from this move, as we did not see the Tigers in action last week. One thing of note is that these rankings still paint this Clemson team as one of the best in the country, which I believe they are.
Clemson has a strong chance to move back up the rankings with a road win over Miami in Week 8.