Tag: College Football Playoff

Where Clemson lands in this way-too-early 12-team College Football Playoff projection

Is Clemson getting an at-large bid in the 2024 College Football Playoff?

Dabo Swinney and Clemson’s football team have had some really good offense in the past, especially when Trevor Lawrence was playing. But ever since Lawrence left for the NFL, things haven’t been as great.

Things could change in 2024. Cade Klubnik is starting his second year as the main quarterback, and he needs to improve if the team wants to do well. Garrett Riley, who’s in charge of the offense, is also in his second year with Clemson. People are hoping he can help the team’s offense just like he did with TCU when they went all the way to the National Championship.

With everything surrounding the Tigers, they are one of the most interesting teams in college football heading into the 2024 season. Our friends over at Ducks Wire recently made their way-too-early 12-team College Football Playoff projection, with Clemson earning an at-large bid and the No. 11. 

Much like Kansas State, there is a path for Clemson to get into the playoff should they be able to have a strong season and make it to the ACC title game. Cade Klubnik has a lot to prove as the QB, but we know how good Dabo Swinney is as a head coach, so I believe the Tigers can get there.

Florida State wins the conference in this situation, which is definitely a possibility, but not how I see this season playing out. From my perspective, Clemson has more talent on their roster, and I still believe that Dabo Swinney is a better head coach than Mike Norvell. 

The ACC should be incredibly interesting in 2024. 

Heartland Sports podcast shares why Texas is national title contender

Big 12 sports podcaster Pete Mundo discusses Texas as a national championship contender.

There’s no love lost between the Big 12 and the Texas Longhorns. That said, it’s difficult to deny that Texas is a legitimate threat to contend atop college football.

Heartland College Sports’ Pete Mundo shared the his thoughts on his podcast of Greg McElroy’s assertion that Texas is a title contender and perhaps sooner than later.

“Steve Sarkisian has done what Tom Herman and Charlie Strong before him could not do. And that is not only recruit, but that is put the pieces of the puzzle together with the right guys and the right staff and actually win big. … (The fact) that he did struggle out of the gates, then he improved to 8-5 and then he breaks off that 12-2 record, gets to the playoff last year and has this thing humming, and I mean humming … I think they’ll be competing at the top of the (SEC) with Georgia.”

Mundo went on to say he still views the Alabama Crimson Tide as a presence within the conference, but the loss of Alabama head coach Nick Saban allows for Texas to move into second place behind Georgia in the conference.

At least one college football analyst in Big 12 media views Texas as a potential challenger for a national championship. The Longhorns will continue their push to win their fifth title in school history.

Several analysts predict Texas to college football’s final four

CBS sports analysts have Texas as one of college football’s last four standing again next season.

The final four of college basketball begins over the weekend. The Longhorns have made it to three final fours in their basketball history.

The football program is looking to go to back-to-back final fours after reaching the College Football Playoff in 2023. CBS Sports released its predictions for which teams will be the last four standing. Several picked Texas.

Six analysts were polled on which teams would make the playoff semifinal. Four picked Texas to advance as far.

Chip Patterson views the Longhorns and Oregon Ducks as teams who could build momentum despite losing their conferences to Georgia and Ohio State.

“I think the likes of Texas or Oregon could be coming off victories in front of their home crowd and primed to take aim at a quarterfinal opponent who hasn’t played since the conference championship game.”

Shehan Jeyarajah had the same four as Patterson: Georgia, Ohio State, Texas and Oregon. He noted that a potential matchup between Texas and a Big 12 or ACC champion could favor the Longhorns.

“Texas and Georgia are also poised to battle at the top of the SEC and the loser of the conference title game is well-positioned to defeat the Big 12 or ACC champion.”

Will Backus based his Texas prediction off the “eye test.”

“Multiple teams could occupy the fourth spot, but this far out from the actual season, it boils down to the eye test. Texas passes with flying colors, given that quarterback Quinn Ewers returns and the Longhorns strategically plugged any holes on the roster with high-impact transfer additions.”

Given the quality of players that Texas lost to the upcoming NFL draft, head coach Steve Sarkisian and company have done well to build the team’s roster through the transfer portal and development. That the team is viewed as a contender to make it back speaks to the job Texas has done replacing those players.

Texas will look to further prove it has the roster to contend when it takes the field on April 20 for its spring game.

Greg McElroy predicts Texas as next program to win first CFP title

Greg McElroy believes that Texas is next in line to win a CFP title among teams yet to win it.

Only a handful of teams have won a College Football Playoff national title. One analyst believes Texas will be the next team to win it among programs yet to secure a national championship in the playoff era.

Greg McElroy shared why he believes Texas will be the next program to win its first College Football Playoff.

“I’m going to go with the Texas Longhorns. Now (Steve Sarkisian) has it cooking. You could make a case that they had the most complete team in the sport last year. Now, while it will be a significant step up in competition week to week in the SEC, I think Texas’ resources, understanding of NIL, an innovative coach that has been really excellent in the portal and the recruiting trail, it just feels like for Texas it’s only a matter of time before they win a national championship yet again.”

There’s a long list of teams yet to win a title in the playoff era. Only Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Georgia and Michigan have taken home the national title trophy since the tournament began in 2014. That McElroy views the Longhorns as legitimate favorites to win it speaks to the reputation the team has built in its playoff run last season.

Several things need to go right for Texas to win a title. Good overall health beginning at the quarterback position will be paramount for the team this season. Even so, the Longhorns have the players to compete for a title in 2024.

On3 identifies Clemson and Florida State as the only ACC legitimate College Football Playoff contenders

Clemson and Florida State are expected to be the top dogs in the ACC.

As college football teams prepare for the upcoming 2024 season, they’re busy recruiting new players and looking at transfers to strengthen their squads.

One team, the Clemson Tigers, is known for their history in the College Football Playoff era. They’re aiming high for the upcoming season, hoping to make it to the College Football Playoff. To do that, they need to play really well in 2024. That might mean winning the ACC Championship to secure a playoff spot, or getting picked as one of the best teams overall.

This year, the playoffs are bigger, with 12 teams instead of just a few. This is a big deal for college football because it gives more teams, like Clemson, a better chance to show what they’ve got and maybe even make it to the playoffs.

On3 recently evaluated the legitimate College Football Playoff contenders in the ACC, with Clemson and Florida State being the two schools mentioned.

“Let’s talk about the ACC and the Big 12 because we’ve only mentioned SEC and Big Ten teams so far,” Andy Staples said. “The supposition is that the national champ will come from one of those two leagues. Perfectly understandable. I think the ACC and the Big 12 are different in this respect, because in the ACC I do think Florida State and Clemson can do this.”

“They can be deep enough. I worry about Clemson for the same reason you do, I don’t think their roster is as efficiently built as everybody else’s because Dabo [Swinney] doesn’t use the Transfer Portal. Florida State is a more efficient roster. It may not have as much top-end talent that you signed out of high school, but they probably have a more functionally talented roster because they’ve been evaluating as they go and changing pieces as they go.”

Once again, it is the transfer portal that people are bringing up with the Tigers, which is understandable when comparing Clemson’s complete roster to others. While some are filling holes in the portal, the Tigers are doing it in recruiting.

That doesn’t mean the roster won’t be complete… if the Tigers hit on their recruits and the outstanding 2023 class continues to develop, Clemson could be a powerhouse in the ACC. It will be interesting to see how they and Florida State compete in 2024 with how differently they’ve built there squads.

Last season, Florida State proved that fully utilizing the transfer portal can work. This season, it’s Clemson’s turn to prove that you can still be elite solely through recruiting.

Alabama joins Michigan State in exclusive NCAA club

With a final four appearance, Alabama joins Michigan State in an exclusive club:

Alabama defeated Clemson in an Elite 8 NCAA Tournament matchup on Saturday night, clinching a spot in the 2024 Final Four for the first time in the school’s history. With an appearance in the basketball final four, adding to the Crimson Tide’s football final four appearance, Alabama has joined Michigan State in an exclusive club.

Since the inception of the College Football Playoff, only one school had made the final four in both football and basketball during the same year. That was the Spartans in 2015, and now Alabama in 2024.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on Twitter @Cory_Linsner.

CFB analyst identifies Texas as perception building game for Michigan

Both Michigan and Texas will be judged on how well they perform in Week 2 matchup, but the pressure is on Michigan.

The Michigan Wolverines won a national title for the first time since 1997 last season. Despite that fact, when the Longhorns come to Ann Arbor the Wolverines could be the team facing the most pressure.

247Sports college football analyst Cody Nagel looked at what the game would mean for Michigan in 2024.

“The nation will find out early whether Michigan can remain among the college football powers in 2024. The reigning national champion Wolverines host fellow College Football Playoff participant Texas in Ann Arbor for a Week 2 headliner. Michigan owns a (22-game) win streak at home, but that run will be put to the test against the Longhorns. A non-conference win versus Texas would be a major statement for new head coach Sherrone Moore and the Wolverines.”

Fair or not, the Texas game could set the tone for how Michigan is viewed in 2024. The same is true for the Longhorns who rode a dominant win over Alabama to a College Football Playoff berth.

The Week 2 matchup is as close to a must-win game for both parties who have difficult games looming later in the season. Texas faces Oklahoma and Georgia in back to back weeks before a road battle against Texas A&M. Michigan is set to face Oregon, Ohio State, USC and Washington in 2024.

Texas will look to earn a signature victory over the blue blood program in Ann Arbor.

New College Football Playoff Format Approved, Major Changes Will Effect Clemson and the ACC

The CFP is making significant changes that will affect Clemson and the ACC.

The College Football Playoff has approved a new format starting in 2026, and it is not a good one for Clemson and the ACC.

The report initially released by ESPN’s Heather Dinich and Pete Thamel reported that the FBS conferences and Notre Dame have agreed to a new 14-team format with guarantees for conference champions. Here are some of the details as reported by ESPN.

The memorandum of understanding guarantees that the field will have at least 12 teams in 2026 and beyond, but sources indicate there is a strong preference for a 14-team field that includes the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next nine highest-ranked teams. Sources caution the exact format is not done yet, and the Big Ten and SEC will have the bulk of control over that, but others will be protected by parameters that have been put in place that can’t be altered.

The financial distribution for the expected 14-team playoff will look radically different that its playoff predecessor. On an annual basis, for example, the Big Ten and SEC will be making more than $21 million per school, a number that’s up from the nearly $5.5 million the Power Five leagues are currently being paid.

In the ACC, the schools will get more than $13 million annually and the Big 12 will get more than $12 million per school. Notre Dame is expected to get more than $12 million as well, and sources tell ESPN there will be a financial incentive for any independent team that reaches the CFP. (There will no longer be a participation bonus for any of the other leagues – a detail that was frustrating to some leaders in the Group of 5.)

There are huge changes coming, and it’s clear how this will affect Clemson and the rest of the ACC teams. The SEC and Big Ten get clear advantages from this new format, and with it being approved, there’s not much to be done for the ACC here.

Nick Saban recounts players’ NIL requests, playing time demands

In a recent interview, Nick Saban tells of what Alabama players asked of him as the 2024 offseason got started.

Shortly after the 2023 college football season came to a close, the shocking news broke that legendary head coach Nick Saban would be retiring from coaching. He is still staying around the game as an advocate for players and the sport, a media member (who would have guessed?) and an advisor to the Alabama football program.

Since retiring, he has been vocal about the state of college football and has recently been talking about what happened within the Crimson Tide program over the last year. Most notably he discussed the poor attitude Alabama players exhibited after losing to Michigan in the Rose Bowl College Football Playoff Semifinal.

He made clear that the attitude of the players was not the reason he retired, but it played a role. As Saban explained to ESPN’s Chris Low, building and maintaining relationships was one of his favorite parts of coaching, and he felt like his messages were no longer resonating with players, which, in turn, meant that the long-lasting relationships were getting harder to build.

With the recent mass changes college football has experienced, such as name, image, likeness policies and the transfer portal being more accessible, Saban felt like coaching, in general, took a hit.

“The thing I loved about coaching the most was the relationships that you had with players, and those things didn’t seem to have the same meaning as they once did,” said Saban.

After the 2023 season came to an end, Saban met with many Alabama players in a short period of time, and the topic of conversation revolved around things that the seven-time national champion did not appreciate: playing time demands and NIL deals.

“I thought we could have a hell of a team next year, and then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I’m going to play because they’re thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?” Saban recounted. “Our program here was always built on how much value can we create for your future and your personal development, academic success in graduating and developing an NFL career on the field.

As Saban stated, he looked to develop relationships and build value for the players, not just on the field, but in their lives, as well. A football career will end for everybody, whether it’s after their time in college or after a career in the NFL. Establishing value for oneself should be at the forefront.

On the minds of many of the players he met with after the season was personal gain, one way or another. While it’s not necessarily an inherently bad thing, it is not what Saban was looking to focus on as a head coach, and he felt like it inhibited the values he held dear over decades of coaching.

“So I’m saying to myself, ‘Maybe this doesn’t work anymore, that the goals and aspirations are just different and that it’s all about how much money can I make as a college player?’ I’m not saying that’s bad. I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m just saying that’s never been what we were all about, and it’s not why we had success through the years.”

The realm of college football is an ever-changing landscape that ought to evolve with the rest of society. The speed at which that change comes and the coinciding protocols must run on a parallel timeline. In today’s game, many have compared it to the Wild West.

College football as we know it will never look the same, as is the case with other periods of transformation in the game. The goal should always be to advance everyone’s best interests, using the past as a guide. There will be always new aspects of the sport that fans, players, coaches and others will champion, and there will be changes that are looked down upon. It’s all rather arbitrary.

For Saban, it had long been clear what his stance was on instituting such drastic alterations to college football, which is why many have argued that perhaps he would be an appropriate candidate to serve as the commissioner for college football. However, that is a role he has openly expressed no interest in.

Saban will continue to find his footing in a post-coaching reality, and we should all expect to hear more from him as the game continues to evolve.

As for the man who looks to fill the mighty shoes left behind by Saban, Kalen DeBoer must navigate the challenge of coaching a historical powerhouse while handling these changes in stride. The expectation is that the newcomer will lean on the veteran heavily for guidance throughout the 2024 offseason.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM. 

Clemson ranked as the No. 2 best team of the 4-team College Football Playoff era

According to ESPN, Clemson is the second-best team of the college football playoff era.

Since the start of the College Football Playoff era, there have been few, if more than one, teams that have been as good as Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers.

Looking at the Tigers’ resume since the start of the playoff, it’s tough to argue against how impressive they’ve been. With two National Championships wins, both coming against Nick Saban and Alabama, along with his eight ACC Championships, programs dream of runs like the Tigers’ have had.

Recently, ESPN graded all 84 teams to ever be ranked by the college football playoff committee, with Clemson ranking No. 2 with an A grade. The only team ranked higher was No. 1 Alabama.

Record: 119-20
Average SP+: 22.2 (3rd)

The Tigers have two national titles, played for two others, won 10 games nine times and have spent 35 weeks in the committee’s top four, trailing only Alabama. And yet, Dabo Swinney still has to deal with angry callers to his radio show questioning whether the program is still relevant. Yes, Clemson has missed the playoff the past three years. And in that span, the Tigers are 30-10 — only the seventh-best record among Power 5 teams. As slumps go, we should all be so lucky.

Over the span of 2015-16 to 2020-21, the Tigers pulled off an impressive feat, making it to the Playoff a remarkable six times in a row. Their consistent appearances stand out, considering that only Alabama managed more with eight entries into the four-team postseason. What makes Clemson’s achievement even more noteworthy is that, historically, they didn’t carry the same level of prestige and history as powerhouse teams like Alabama and Ohio State. Before the Tigers embarked on their own era of dominance, the football world often associated the biggest names with places like Tuscaloosa and Columbus. However, Clemson’s impressive run altered the narrative and solidified their place among the elite in college football.

They make excellent points about the Tigers current slump too. While fans are quick to complain and have rightfully high expectations, reality is also something we need to acknowledge. Clemson had a historic run and while they are by no means done, it is important to understand that like any sport, it’s a game of runs. It’s how the Tigers recover from this slump that matters.