Clemson Tigers College Football Ranking Spot Will Rile Up Other Fan Bases

A college football analyst isn't so sure the Clemson Tigers deserve their lofty College Football Playoff ranking.

Nov 23, 2024; Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney talks to players before kickoff against The Citadel Bulldogs at Memorial Stadium. / Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images

A few weeks ago, the Clemson Tigers were the talk of the college football world. After an embarrassing season-opening loss against the Georgia Bulldogs, they responded in spectacular fashion.

Their much-maligned offense had found that next gear. They were scoring at rapid rates, performing efficiently on the offensive side of the ball and putting up some truly eye-popping numbers.

During their six-game winning streak, the Tigers scored at least 29 points in every game and were victorious by 16+ points. Then, the collapse against the Louisville Cardinals occurred.

A 33-21 loss at home led many to believe any chance Clemson had at advancing to the College Football Playoff was dead. A two-loss team that didn’t have an inside track to their conference championship was not a good look.

Alas, anyone who wrote Dabo Swinney’s group off has been proved incorrect.

In the most recent College Football Playoff rankings, the Tigers earned the No. 12 spot. That means they are the first team out, with No. 16 Arizona State Sun Devils snagging a spot as they currently sit atop the Big 12 and are one of the five highest-ranked conference leaders.

It is a situation that David Hale of ESPN believes will leave a lot of people angry heading into Week 14 of the season.

“So, what exactly is the rationale for ranking Clemson ahead of, say, Arizona State (three wins better than Virginia Tech), BYU (two), Kansas State (three), Alabama (four), Ole Miss (three) or South Carolina (three)? Iowa State, Arizona State, Texas A&M, South Carolina, BYU and Alabama all have better strength-of-record metrics than the Tigers.”

Not everyone always has a chance to prove themselves on the field, but Clemson will this weekend. They are taking on their rivals, the South Carolina Gamecocks, who are one of the hottest teams in the country.

If they want to prove their lofty ranking was deserved, they will go out and win that came in Death Valley at Memorial Stadium. If they don’t they can certainly kiss their College Football Playoff at-large hopes goodbye.

A loss to South Carolina would mean the only path the Tigers would have is through the ACC Championship Game. To earn their spot there, they need the Miami Hurricanes to be defeated by the Syracuse Orange this weekend.

The SMU Mustangs have already clinched one of the two spots, as they remain undefeated to this point in their first season in the conference.

If Week 13 proved anything, it is that nothing is guaranteed in college football. Several ranked teams went on the road against unranked foes and were defeated.

While the odds are slim, the same thing could happen to the Hurricanes. Clemson should be rooting for that to happen, as any opportunity to prove their naysayers wrong will benefit them.