Clemson Tigers Look to Build On Important November Trend

The Clemson Tigers' work is not done yet this season, and they have an important November trend playing in their favor.

Melina Myers-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers and head coach Dabo Swinney know that the key to success in college football is only worrying about the team that's in front of you, and beating the opponents placed on your schedule.

While they had a tough go of doing that to begin the 2023 season, getting out to a 4-4 record, they played much better down the stretch, winning their last five contests of the campaign to finish the year at 9-4.

This year, the start was slow once again, though not as slow as last year's, as the Tigers have only dropped one game, the season opener with the Georgia Bulldogs, and have plowed through the competition with ease ever since.

As we now approach November, the leaves begin to change, and so does the complexity of the schedules remaining throughout the college football landscape.

For most of the country, November is a time when you face your toughest battles, culminating in one final game against your biggest rival.

While Clemson's toughest battles, that have been scheduled at least, are already behind them, they do still stand to face a key rival in the South Carolina Gamecocks to close out the regular season and the month of November.

But the adversity that teams face in November has fallen on deaf ears in Death Valley, as the team has played to a 30-4 record in November games since 2015, an .882 win percentage, tied for the second-best mark in college football with the Alabama Crimson Tide, and only behind Georgia.

It was a trend that played in the Tiger's favor last year, as the team won all four of its November matchups, which was part of the five-game win streak to close the book on the 2023 campaign.

This year, the team will have five such contests, the fifth time since 2015 with as many November games, and the program boasts 5-0 records in the four preceding this one.

It is an important and favorable trend that Clemson looks to build and improve on this year, as they continue to push for a berth in the College Football Playoffs, now expanded to 12 teams instead of just four.

While winning out would not guarantee them a berth, it would guarantee them a shot at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, and should they win that they will certainly be in the mix for the National Championship.

The Tigers are on the doorstep of destiny, and with history playing in their favor, we may see that door open before all is said and done.