As Clemson football checked in at No. 20 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy expressed skepticism over the Tigers’ spot, even questioning if they should be ranked at all.
McElroy argued that Clemson’s football’s record and recent performances, particularly losses to Louisville and Georgia, don’t warrant their Top 25 inclusion. He emphasized that while Clemson’s past success under Dabo Swinney has bolstered their brand, this season has shown struggles against top competition. This comes a week after McElroy was already harping on how the Tigers shouldn’t be ranked.
“Clemson is at 20. I’m not sure they should be ranked, if you want my personal opinion,” McElroy said. “Not because I don’t think Clemson is capable. They’ve beat a lot of really good teams convincingly — well, I take that back. They’ve beat some solid teams convincingly, but the two really good teams they’ve played, they’ve not been competitive, against Georgia and Louisville. So if Clemson were to have been a little lower, I wouldn’t have had a problem with that. If they had been outside the Top 25, I would have understood as well.”
McElroy specifically pointed out that Clemson’s best win is against a 5-4 Virginia team, which he views as insufficient for their current ranking. He also cited brand bias, suggesting that Clemson is benefiting from their historical reputation. He raised similar critiques earlier in the season, suggesting that Clemson’s inconsistency makes them undeserving of a Top 25 position, especially when compared to other ACC teams with more impressive wins, like Miami and SMU.
It’s always interesting when an analyst calls out bias, as a lot of them are filled with their own. If we want to go down that rabbit hole, we can always find countless situations where an SEC guy like McElroy is biased towards ‘his’ conference. McElroy being on the call for the Clemson vs. Pittsburgh game makes things all the more interesting.
Clemson needs a strong showing in their upcoming games, starting with Pitt, to prove they belong in the rankings. The Tigers remain hopeful of securing a high enough ranking for the expanded playoff format, though McElroy insists that recent losses and a lack of standout victories are holding them back.