Brian Kelly receives an ‘A’ grade from Greg McElroy for 2022 season

A 10-win season, an upset over Alabama and an SEC West title were more than enough for Kelly to receive high marks in Year 1.

It’s hard to find much fault in Brian Kelly’s Year 1 campaign at LSU.

It certainly wasn’t perfect, as frustrating losses to Florida State, Tennessee and Texas A&M all attest, but with an upset win over Alabama, an SEC West title and a 10-win season, things are certainly looking up on the bayou.

There were questions about fit when Kelly, who had never coached south of Cincinnati and had spent more than a decade at Notre Dame, was hired by the Tigers last offseason. But he quickly dispelled those concerns, and his first season received an “A” grade from Greg McElroy on ESPN’s Always College Football.

“Brian Kelly finishing the season 10-4 was ridiculous,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “Like a lot of people were poking fun at Brian Kelly a year ago this time. He’s not gonna fit, he’s got (saying) family (with a bizarre accent), all this other nonsense okay, but the guy can flat out coach football and we know this.

“Alright, they were picked to finish fifth in the SEC West in the preseason. They captured the division for the first time since 2019 and beat Alabama at Tiger Stadium for the first time since 2010. So, it’s been a while since they’ve taken care of business against the Tide. And LSU was one of those situations where they were this close and you look at how they finished, they might be poised to repeat this upcoming year with some of the pieces they brought in.

“Some of the guys that decided to return, they might be well positioned. This is not going to be a one year thing Brian Kelly’s about to have this thing rolling, or at least it feels that way. So he of course gets an ‘A.’”

As McElroy mentions, LSU did lose some talent but also returns quite a bit of production in addition to the nation’s best transfer class and a top-10 recruiting haul. What Kelly is building at LSU could be special, and it seems the national media is taking notice.

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Texas vs. Oklahoma: Who got the tougher 2023 Big 12 schedule?

Greg McElroy believes Oklahoma got the short end of the stick from the Big 12.

Texas and Oklahoma are preparing for their future move to the SEC but are spending at least one more season in the new-look Big 12. The Conference announced its 2023 schedule recently, including the four programs joining the league.

College football analyst Greg McElroy believes Oklahoma got the short end of the stick from the Big 12. He spoke on the difficulty of the Sooners’ schedule on the Always College Football show.

“I happen to think when you look at it, though, I mean, it’s definitely possible that they could have a bit of an improvement, but you look at the schedule man, I thought they got dealt the more difficult hand when comparing them to the Longhorns, partly because all four of their road opponents if you count the neutral site game against Texas, they all competed in bowl games last year.”

The Sooners look to get back into Big 12 title contention in 2023 but have a few challenging road games on their slate. Oklahoma faces away games against Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, BYU and Kansas next season.

On the flip side, Texas plays most of its away games in close proximity. The Longhorns only leave the state of Texas twice in 2023.

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ESPN’s Greg McElroy preaches patience from Florida fans

Greg McElroy calls for patience with Billy Napier’s plan to restore glory to the Orange and Blue.

Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy has expressed concern about the Florida fanbase on a recent episode of the Always College Football podcast. In the snippet, McElroy, who is an analyst on the ESPN family of networks (including the SEC Network), said the Florida Gators are the SEC team he is the most concerned about because of the fanbase’s expectations.

The Gators finished the 2022 season with a 6-7 record, losing five of their last seven games. Throughout the season, social media saw Florida fans express their displeasure with the on-field product, with some calling for [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] to be ousted as head coach after his first season in charge.

While a small section of the Orange and Blue’s fanbase, the majority of Florida fans can agree that losing your final three games of the season, with one of those losses coming on the road to Vanderbilt, is tough to swallow regardless of where in the rebuilding process you are.

Most fans agree with McElroy’s assessment of seven or eight wins next season, but his criticism is still valid. It’s easy to point at someone like Brian Kelly at LSU and say, “Well he did it in one season”. While that’s true, we’re not seeing all the work behind the scenes that Napier and his staff have had to do over the last 13 months to lay down the proper foundation. Only time will tell if Florida fans’ outrage is justified or not.

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Greg McElroy high on Michigan football entering Ohio State game

His prediction, though! 👀 #GoBlue

The former Alabama player turned ESPN analyst has been high on Michigan football, making it No. 1 in his power rankings in midseason. However, Greg McElroy just went the extra step when it came to his keys and prediction for the Wolverines vs. Ohio State on Saturday.

Appearing on his podcast, McElroy broke down what he’s seen from the Buckeyes, having just called their most recent game, and how they match up against Michigan. Though there are questions about Blake Corum’s availability on Saturday, McElroy thinks the maize and blue still have the pieces to be able to pull off the upset.

Here are his comments:

“So, I called the game involving Ohio State just last week. So I’ve seen them up close and personal and spent time with their coaches over the last few weeks in an effort to try to prepare myself for the Maryland game,” McElroy said. “I feel like I’m really in a good spot to be able to preview and break this thing down. I know the Buckeyes roster like the back of my hand, it’s fresh in my mind, so let’s give it our best shot.

“OK, this is obviously a massive game. It’s the first time since 2006 that both Ohio State and Michigan square off as undefeated teams. Remember that ‘06 game was the first of the many games of the century, right? This is not new — game of the century, though. That was the first. It feels like at least this century, or at least maybe that year is the first game of the century. Remember, Ohio State won that game, 42-39, Ohio State went on to play Florida (in the) national championship (in) that year, but ultimately that win propelled them into that spot — Michigan dropped to No. 3.

“This is going to be an opportunity for Michigan to win against the Buckeyes in consecutive years for the first time since 1999 and 2000. Of course, the starting quarterbacks in those two games, respectively, Tom Brady and Drew Henson. So it’s been a minute since they’ve won back to back games against the Buckeyes, and it’s really been a minute since they’ve won a game in The Shoe. That was back in 2000. So last time they won a game in The Shoe since then Ohio State’s won nine straight there in the friendly confines of Columbus, Ohio.

“So this is a great matchup for so many different reasons. You have the nation’s second-best offense in regards to points per game against the nation’s second-best defense in regards to points per game. Let’s start with that, because that’s where most of the conversation is going to center around — Ohio State’s offense against Michigan’s defense, I think of course, is probably going to be this sexy approach, if you will, when it comes to this game.

“Let’s start with CJ Stroud. What is he? Do I really need to spend a lot of time on CJ Stroud? You know he’s super accurate. You know he’s super gifted, you know that he’s going to play a very long time in the NFL. More than likely all these things are true. But I can tell you all that stuff. What I can also tell you is that the one flaw in his game is he’s not elite in the pocket. He’s fine. He’s solid, but when he moves in the pocket, he’s a little statuesque, and to be honest with you, his moves are a little bit problematic. They (the defensive line) are trying to (move the QB out of the pocket) when you’re rushing the passer. You want to force the passer to retreat. That’s the goal. If you compress the pocket, you force the passer to retreat. Well, that’s exactly what CJ Stroud does. There have been a lot of clean pockets that he’s thrown from this year, and the offensive line does a pretty good job of protection, but he does not step up in the pocket. And when you’re constantly retreating against a quality pass rush, you’re having to throw off your back foot and that can lead to you being just a little bit inaccurate. That’s the key for Michigan — force Ohio State’s offensive line back into the lap of CJ Stroud, force him  to retreat in the pocket as opposed to step up in the pocket. And if you do, he’ll become less accurate as the game goes along. He’s a great player though, and if he gets hot, it can be very, very difficult to contain this offense.

“The wide receiver position. We all know about what Marvin Harrison is, he’s tremendous. He’s a big-body wide receiver with small-receiver nuance. The guy can run great routes, he runs routes. Like he’s 5-foot-10, but he’s 6-foot-3. That tells you all you need to know. So, he can also win the contested catches and he seems to even though I don’t think he’s a crazy burner, he always seems to get behind the defense, probably because he has great hands. And on the second level, he can definitely make guys swat so if you’re gonna play him, you better double him up, or else you gotta have some issues in the slot. Emeka Egbuka — very, very solid. We know exactly who he is, as well. He’ll do some different things. They’ll try to involve him, but he’s an excellent slot receiver that does an awful lot for the Buckeyes. Of course if Jaxon Smith-Njigba is back, he’ll occupy that slot spot and Egbuka will likely slide out. But either way, whether it’s Fleming, whether it’s Egbuka, whether it’s Xavier Johnson, it’s a very deep and talented wide receiver corps that will be very difficult for Michigan to contain.

“As far as the run game is concerned, last week when the passing game wasn’t really ripping, they said forget about it. We’re going to hand it off-tackle. Well, if Miyan Williams is for whatever reason that less than 100% and TreVeyon Henderson is at less than 100%, Dallan Hayden proves to be a capable enough piece to be able to hand it to him 20 times in the game if you need to. However, if the offense isn’t operating at its fullest potential — it’s not going to be like Maryland, where we can just hand stretch zone and boom, Dallan Hayden is going to go untouched to the second level. Michigan does a great job of holding the point of attack. So your tackles are gonna have to play better than they have pretty much at any point in the season. This offensive line’s has been solid at times in the run game, but I expect their best performance to be this week. You see it kind of stop and start with them. They’re not crazy physical and they struggle in short yardage. That could be a very, very important part of this plan.

“Moving over to Michigan when Ohio State has the football, we all know exactly what this defense is all about. They do a great job of affecting the opposing quarterback, they do a great job of mixing their looks and they’re very, very good on the perimeter. I think. I think the biggest part of this game for Michigan is going to be the play of their corners. If you can get physical with the wide receivers like Maryland did and like teams have at times this year, I think you can get disrupt the rhythm enough to be able to make life difficult for the passing attack. If I were them, I would get as physical as humanly possible. And if I get flagged a couple of times as a result, so be it, I’llll live with those 15-yard pass interference penalties, more so than I’ll live with giving up 15-yard completions. Why? Because a pass interference penalty doesn’t build confidence in the offense. I’d hit these receivers as best I could. If I were Michigan, that I think is the key.

“So we’ve kind of summed up that side of the ball. If you look at Michigan offensively, we know so much of it. It’s going to center around whether or not Blake Corum is healthy. I don’t know for sure. I think he’ll be fine. But will he be close to 100%? That is an all-points bulletin that you must find out if you’re Jim Harbaugh and this offensive attack. Donovan Edwards as well. Very important piece of the run game. This offensive line, I think you can make a strong argument it’s the best offensive line in football. I think they are the best group I’ve seen this year. And I think Ohio State up front defensively is pretty dang good. I think they’re very good on the edges — Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau — those two guys do an excellent job. You got Harrison on the other side on the edges. Ohio State’s really good but I do think up the middle of the defense, they are somewhat human. If I’m Michigan, I’m trying to establish a vertical run game as best I can. And if you want to peek at a tape, just go take a look at the Penn State tape. Those linebackers for Penn State were way out of position most of the game. That won’t be the case this week. You’re gonna have to earn your yards against Ohio State because Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg do an amazing, amazing job at being able to sniff things out. And then, if you choose to play laterally, they’re athletic enough to be able to move sideline to sideline as well. I think this is an excellent linebacker corps for Ohio State and I think those are the two most important players on the defensive side of the football.

“For the Buckeyes on the perimeter, you’ve got to think Michigan is going to challenge these corners. This has been a corner group for Ohio State that has some guys that have been in and out of the lineup. I kind of like the wide receivers for Michigan. I think that they’re very underappreciated. Like, they’re very underrated. Ronnie Bell I think has a chance to become a game changer. Roman Wilson, I think, is a really good piece. Cornelius Johnson — you got some really good pieces on the perimeter for Michigan when working against Ohio State, but I also think you cannot overlook the involvement on the shallow cross routes on the mesh routes involving the tight ends. We’ve seen Michigan run those hundreds of times this season. Few times they’ve been covered very well. And it gets guys running across the formation. J.J. McCarthy on underneath throws has been pretty dang good — it’s the downfield throws that he hasn’t been quite as consistent with. He needs to play his best game in a Wolverines uniform.

“If they’re going to pull off the upset, I think it’s gonna be a phenomenal game on both sides. I think both defenses are extremely underrated. I think both offensively are appropriately rated. Michigan, for all the reasons that they excel along the line of scrimmage and with the vertical rushing attack. Ohio State, with their big play potential and their prowess at both wide receiver and a quarterback. It’s a dynamic back and forth.

“I’m going Michigan. I know it’s at Ohio State. I know I’m definitely taking the underdog. I know it’s definitely going to be an uphill climb for the Michigan Wolverines to pull off what would be one of the biggest upsets of the college football season. But I still have not been convinced at this point that Ohio State has eradicated some of the issues that plagued them against the Wolverines last year. Michigan can control the line of scrimmage especially up the middle, and I think J.J. McCarthy’s legs can make it just difficult enough for Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers at the second level to stay at home and or get beat to the perimeter. I think it’s gonna be a phenomenal game of back and forth but I expect Michigan to have the better plan and I think Michigan’s gonna hold up in the run game against Ohio State’s offensive line, as well in the physicality — especially if the refs let them play. I think the physical presence that this game is likely going to require is going to be advantage Michigan. I think Michigan wins it in a photo finish. And I think if anything we’re going to come away from this game saying both Ohio State and Michigan (that) they’re likely in the top four teams in college football.”

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ESPN analyst: Clemson ‘the team that should be most frustrated right now’

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 …

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.”

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ESPN analyst wonders if there’s ‘enough meat on the bone’ for Clemson

ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy chimed in on Clemson’s College Football Playoff chances after the Tigers’ latest CFP ranking was unveiled during ESPN’s College Football Playoff: Top 25 show. Clemson (8-1, 6-0 ACC), which checked in at No. …

ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy chimed in on Clemson’s College Football Playoff chances after the Tigers’ latest CFP ranking was unveiled during ESPN’s College Football Playoff: Top 25 show.

Clemson (8-1, 6-0 ACC), which checked in at No. 4 in the initial CFP rankings last week, tumbled to No. 10 in the second rankings after its 35-14 loss at Notre Dame last Saturday night.

The Tigers will conclude the regular season with a three-game homestand against Louisville, Miami and South Carolina, none of which are currently ranked by the CFP committee. After those three games at Death Valley, Dabo Swinney’s team will play in the ACC Championship Game, presumably against North Carolina (No. 15 in the latest CFP rankings).

“I just wonder if there’s enough meat on the bone on Clemson’s remaining schedule to get back into the mix,” McElroy said. “Because even in a loss with Michigan to Ohio State, Michigan likely would still be ahead of Clemson. Where does LSU fall in the mix, where does Alabama fall in the mix? There’s still so many teams that we’ve yet to rank, that even if they were to lose, they’d still probably still be in front of the Tigers knowing the strength of schedule that remains in other places.

“So the ACC right now, this is a reflection on just the quality at the top. It’s a little bit more bunched up than we’re accustomed to.”

After McElroy made his comments, the SEC teams he mentioned — LSU and Alabama — came in at No. 7 and No. 9 in the rankings, respectively.

The new top four features Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU, in that order.

Besides Clemson and North Carolina, the other two ACC teams that are ranked in the new CFP rankings are NC State (No. 16) and Florida State (No. 23), both of which the Tigers own wins over this season.

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Greg McElroy discusses how Alabama should strongly consider bringing back Jeremy Pruitt

Greg McElroy discusses how Alabama should strongly consider bringing back Jeremy Pruitt.

Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy joined “The Paul Finebaum Show” and discussed the Crimson Tide’s 2022 season.

Alabama lost to Tennessee and LSU, but won one-possession games against Texas and Texas A&M.

McElroy mentioned he would consider having former Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt rejoining Alabama’s coaching staff under Nick Saban. Pruitt served as Alabama’s defensive coordinator (2016-17), defensive backs coach (2010-12) and director of player development (2007-09) under Saban.

“I think the issue is more with the coaching staff as much as it is with the players,” McElroy told Finebaum of Alabama. “The players, look you shoulder some of the blame for sure, but I do get the sense, a little bit that, and I’ve talked to coaches throughout college football that have either been in Tuscaloosa or have a good understanding of what goes on in Tuscaloosa, or you know, are close personal friends of the program or whatever. I’ve talked to people all over the place and there is a lot of people that feel like Nick Saban and the staff right there, and currently in Tuscaloosa, the staff that’s currently there, doesn’t really understand necessarily the principles and the foundation, the bedrocks of the foundation from which the program was built.

“I think it’d be really beneficial to evaluate at the end of the season your coaching staff, and then evaluate who are some guys that helped build this thing from the beginning back in 2007? Joe Pendry is retired, OK, but you know, there’s a handful of other guys that are still out there coaching. Whether it be Bo Davis, who’s currently serving as a defensive line coach in Texas, whether it be Jeremy Pruitt, who, of course, was the head coach — and as far as I know, I don’t believe he has a show cause — the head coach of Tennessee. I don’t know, you would know that circumstance better than me, but if he’s available, he would be someone I would strongly consider bringing in.”

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McElroy gets Clemson’s ranking, but would pick this team ‘all day long’ over the Tigers

Greg McElroy understands why Clemson came in at No. 4 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings that were released Tuesday night, given the fact the Tigers have wins over three teams in the CFP Top 25 – Syracuse (No. 20), Wake Forest (No. 21) …

Greg McElroy understands why Clemson came in at No. 4 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings that were released Tuesday night, given the fact the Tigers have wins over three teams in the CFP Top 25 – Syracuse (No. 20), Wake Forest (No. 21) and NC State (No. 22).

However, when it comes to the resume Clemson (8-0, 6-0 ACC) has built, McElroy would argue that the aforementioned three ACC teams shouldn’t be ranked where they are.

And when it comes to the eye test with the Tigers, the ESPN college football analyst doesn’t seem impressed.

“Just saying, have you watched Clemson? Like, just watch them,” McElroy said. “A couple good wins. I was a little bit surprised, frankly, with where some of these teams ranked. How on God’s green earth you can rank NC State in the top 25 is beyond me, but they’re in there. Even though last week’s game (against Virginia Tech) on Thursday night made me want to, literally, it made me want to turn off the television. You know how hard that is for me to do as like a college football diehard? Last Thursday’s game was painful to watch. So, you’ve got a win there. Got a win against Syracuse. Syracuse sits at No. 20. So, Clemson, they have a couple good wins in there. Also got a win against Wake Forest. So, you have a win against team 20, 21 and 22.

“Alright, should any of those three teams be ranked where they’re at? I would argue no, but they’re sitting there with three wins against teams that are currently ranked in the top 25. So, I can understand why they’re where they’re at.”

While McElroy said he doesn’t “have a terrible issue” with where Clemson is ranked, he left no doubt about who he thinks would win if the Tigers played the team ranked right behind them in the CFP rankings – No. 5 Michigan.

“If Clemson played Michigan, I would pick Michigan every day and twice on Saturday. All day long. All day long,” he said. “But look at the resume  — wins against 20, 21 and 22 – so, I understand why they sit where they sit.”

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ESPN analysts on if close win changes way playoff committee views Clemson

Fifth-ranked Clemson staved off an upset bid from then-No. 14 Syracuse last Saturday at Death Valley, erasing a double-digit deficit to beat the Orange, 27-21, after trailing at halftime. On ESPN’s College Football Live this week, one of the …

Fifth-ranked Clemson staved off an upset bid from then-No. 14 Syracuse last Saturday at Death Valley, erasing a double-digit deficit to beat the Orange, 27-21, after trailing at halftime.

On ESPN’s College Football Live this week, one of the network’s college football analysts, Greg McElroy, was asked if the win changes the way the Tigers are viewed by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, given that it was closer than some people would’ve liked.

McElroy certainly doesn’t think it should and doesn’t believe style points should matter for Clemson’s resume when the Tigers are a perfect 8-0 on the season and the heavy favorite to win the ACC.

“Well it shouldn’t. I don’t understand when it all became about style points,” he said. “Last I checked, the goal is to ultimately win the football game. And Clemson, albeit imperfect, yeah they won the football game and did so, I might say, against a team that was previously undefeated and also they did so with a minus-three turnover margin – and by the way might as well have been minus-four turnover margin because Syracuse’s turnover was late in the game.

“So, I guess I’m just trying to figure out does close now, I thought it only counted in horseshoes and hand grenades, but now it counts in college football, too? Like, do we need style points if you’re undefeated and win your conference, like yeah, you also gotta do more now? What are we doing?”

The first set of College Football Playoff rankings will be unveiled next Tuesday, Nov. 1, and ESPN’s Sam Acho doesn’t think the Tigers’ ranking should be impacted negatively by the narrow win over Syracuse.

“People talk about man, Clemson won but it was close, and should they now be lower in the College Football Playoff ranking? No,” he said on College Football Live. “I got a chance to meet last year with the selection committee, actually was a part of a mock selection group. So, we brought some people together and we actually sat through the entire process of how they select teams for the College Football Playoff. And one of the biggest criteria is winning your conference, a conference champion.

“So yes, Clemson didn’t win in the fashion that people expected against Syracuse, but they won. And then now you have a chance to go and win your conference. So, the selection committee, even though you talk about the four best teams, they’re going to pick an undefeated conference champion – i.e., let’s say that’s Clemson – over a one-loss team in the SEC or in the Big Ten that does not win their conference.”

For what it’s worth, Clemson has an 82.3 percent chance to win the ACC, per ESPN FPI. North Carolina has the next-best chance to win the conference at 15.9 percent.

The Tigers have a 62.1 percent chance to reach the CFP, according to the Allstate Playoff Predictor – the third-highest chance to reach the playoff behind Ohio State (81 percent) and Georgia (69 percent).

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

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Greg McElroy ‘not that impressed’ with Clemson, ranks Tigers last among unbeatens

Only six unbeaten teams are left in the FBS, and ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy has Clemson ranked last among the bunch. During ESPN’s College Football Live show Tuesday, McElroy gave his ranking of the remaining undefeated teams in …

Only six unbeaten teams are left in the FBS, and ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy has Clemson ranked last among the bunch.

During ESPN’s College Football Live show Tuesday, McElroy gave his ranking of the remaining undefeated teams in college football and put the Tigers at No. 6 behind TCU at No. 5, Ohio State at No. 4, Tennessee at No. 3, Georgia at No. 2 and Michigan at No. 1.

You can read below McElroy’s explanation for how he ranked those teams and why he has each team where he does, with McElroy saying he’s “just not that impressed” with Clemson.

TCU at No. 5/Clemson at No. 6: “TCU’s got a much better resume than Clemson, and then Clemson, I would have at No. 6, who I’m just not that impressed with. But ultimately they’re undefeated, and you have to give them credit for being undefeated.”

Ohio State at No. 4: “I base it more on what you’ve done to this point, and the big one that people will mostly disagree with as far as my rankings are concerned, I have Ohio State at 4. … What beats them? Well, I don’t know that just yet, but I know that last year they got beat badly by a team that can control the line of scrimmage, and I haven’t seen them address that just yet because no one that they’ve played has been able to potentially expose them in that regard. They haven’t played a soul. Yes, Notre Dame, they got a ‘good’ win against Notre Dame. Notre Dame’s not very good. Their next-best win against a team that’s above .500 is Toledo. So, if you look at their schedule and their strength of record, it’s not really all that impressive. So Ohio State to me is incomplete grade, but they can get a big boost this week with a win on the road against a team that I also really like in Penn State.”

Tennessee at No. 3: “Then I have Tennessee, who I would have 3. That win against Alabama. Alabama’s my No. 7 team. I love Alabama. I think they’re the best one-loss team in the country. But still, Tennessee took care of business. It just wasn’t super pretty or fulfilling to me, especially on the defensive side of the football.”

Georgia at No. 2: “No. 2 Georgia, I had them 3 last week. I have them up to 2 now because of how good Oregon looked. Remember, they dominated Oregon in Week No. 1.”

Michigan at No. 1: “Michigan has the most impressive win to me, as far as being able to dominate Penn State.”

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