Clemson moved up one spot in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday night but is still currently on the outside looking in at the playoff, coming in at No. 8 in the rankings with one week left in the regular season before conference championship weekend.
The team that Clemson (10-1, 8-0 ACC) will play in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 3, North Carolina (9-2, 6-1), fell four spots to No. 17 in the latest CFP rankings after losing to an unranked team in Georgia Tech last Saturday.
While the Tigers have taken care of business in the ACC throughout a perfect regular season of conference play, they haven’t gotten a whole lot of help from the rest of the league as far as the playoff is concerned.
And ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy thinks Dabo Swinney’s team should be disgruntled by that.
“The team that should be most frustrated right now is Clemson, because ultimately it’s not their fault that North Carolina lost,” McElroy said Tuesday night on ESPN’s College Football Playoff: Top 25 show.
Clemson owns wins over the other two ACC teams that appeared in the latest CFP rankings — Florida State (No. 16) and Louisville (No. 25) — though since the initial CFP rankings were unveiled on Nov. 1, three other teams in the conference that the Tigers have beaten (Syracuse, Wake Forest and NC State) have all fallen out of the rankings.
Clemson’s lone loss came to a non-ACC foe in Notre Dame, 35-14, on Nov. 5 in South Bend. The Irish now occupy the No. 15 spot in the latest CFP rankings.
“If you look at the rest of the ACC, Clemson has done what they needed to do,” McElroy said. “They sit there with one loss — that one loss is hideous, don’t get me wrong, but (No. 9) Oregon also has a hideous loss as well (49-3 to Georgia on Sept. 3) — and I think Clemson right now, to be in the position that they’re in, they just haven’t been benefitted by the rest of the ACC to help prop them up in an effort to kind of get back within striking distance of those top four.”
Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.
Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!
