It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to not scoreboard watch if you’re Clemson. Just ask Jordan McFadden.
“I’ve been peeking around the country kind of seeing what’s going on,” Clemson’s senior left tackle said.
That’s because, with just a couple of weeks left before Selection Sunday, there’s still a chance for the Tigers to creep back into the College Football Playoff. Clemson needs more help, but the Tigers got some over the weekend with South Carolina’s drubbing of No. 5 Tennessee, which, for all intents and purposes, has eliminated the two-loss Volunteers from playoff consideration.
That also means Clemson, fresh off a win over Miami, will get a bump from No. 9 when the new CFP rankings are unveiled Tuesday night, and other teams ranked ahead of the Tigers still have potential landmines left on their respective slates. No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan play each other Saturday, so one of them will suffer a loss that will kill its Big Ten title hopes. No. 7 Southern Cal hosts No. 18 Notre Dame this weekend before a likely Pac-12 title matchup with No. 12 Oregon. No. 6 LSU will face top-ranked Georgia in the SEC championship game next weekend after its regular-season finale against Texas A&M.
Of course, McFadden didn’t neglect the other part of the equation: Clemson has to take care of its business, too. It will all become a moot point if the Tigers lose either of their last two games, the latter being a date with North Carolina in next week’s ACC championship game.
The first order of business comes Saturday against their in-state rival. While another year of bragging rights would be important – Clemson has won its last seven meetings with South Carolina – it’s not lost on McFadden the potential for even bigger stakes in this year’s rendition of the rivalry.
“Obviously it’s South Carolina, but they’re in our way to kind of what we want to do as a team,” McFadden said. “That’s enough motivation for itself.”
Winning its next two games would ensure Clemson of at least an Orange Bowl berth. Lose on Saturday, though, and that would be the best the Tigers could do this postseason.
“I know it’s college football and anything can happen,” McFadden said. “We kind of dug ourselves in a hole with that loss to Notre Dame, but I like our chances if we win out. We’ll see what happens, but I like our odds.”
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