If you’ve been paying attention the last couple of weeks, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has made it public knowledge he is proud of his conference for following through with their Dec. 12 games ahead of the conference championship next weekend.
Clemson and two-time national championship head coach Dabo Swinney was asked Sunday about Sankey being vocal about the ACC canceling both Clemson and Notre Dame’s games this past weekend, to which he had a strong retort:
“If six wins can get you in, shouldn’t nine or 10?” Sweeney asked, “If the ACC was really trying to protect Clemson and Notre Dame, we wouldn’t be playing this weekend, but that’s not what we’re about. We want to crown a worthy champion.” – Dabo Swinney
Brian Kelly said something similar, though not as direct, after Notre Dame’s Nov. 14 win at Boston College when he referenced the team’s eighth win being more than the number of games any Big Ten teams would play.
It’s a fair point by Swinney, and it comes a day after a prime example why.
Florida was knocking on the door of a College Football Playoff appearance before being upset by LSU on Saturday, a perfect example why the number of games played matters.
I’m not saying Ohio State would be guaranteed to lose once if it played 10 games this year, but to suggest that it would be impossible to see it happening in college football is absurd.
When Ohio State last won a national title in 2014, that same Buckeyes team, which was clearly great, lost 35-21 on its home field to a Virginia Tech team that wound up 7-6 overall.
It has happened before. It happened again this weekend, and it’ll surely happen again.
Swinney was also asked if he thought both Notre Dame and Clemson were playoff-worthy regardless of what happens in the ACC Championship game, an idea he was fully on board with.
And I couldn’t possibly agree with him more.