Clemson Tigers Rise in College Football Playoff Rankings After Week 12

The Clemson Tigers have moved up three spots in the College Football Playoff Rankings

Nov 16, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; The Clemson Tigers sing the alma mater after defeating the Pittsburgh Panthers against at Acrisure Stadium. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers are coming off a much-needed win against the Pittsburgh Panthers to keep their playoff hopes alive. 

With the win, the Tigers finished with a very impressive 7-1 record in the ACC, with their only loss coming against the Louisville Cardinals. While that record is very strong, the one loss might have come against the worst possible team. 

Due to the Miami Hurricanes and SMU Mustangs having wins over the Cardinals, they now have the tiebreaker against Clemson in the ACC. Since the Mustangs have yet to lose in the conference, they look like they will be playing for the championship barring something crazy. 

The likely best chance for the Tigers to get into the ACC Championship Game will be for Miami to lose a game. Due to the Hurricanes already having one loss, a potential loss against the Syracuse Orange on the road could be the best opportunity for Clemson to sneak into the title game. 

When thinking about the College Football Playoff, the most likely way for the Tigers to get in will be to win the conference. 

In the most recent CFP ratings, the Tigers moved up three spots to 17th in the rankings, as they are starting to creep up in the standings. 

As Clemson heads into Week 13, they will have a very easy game coming up against The Citadel. However, after that, they will be facing the South Carolina Gamecocks in the final game of the season. 

While that game doesn’t have conference implications, it could have implications in the CFP with the Gamecocks being ranked 18th. 

If the Tigers win that game, it will be interesting to see what the committee wants to do, even if they don’t get a chance to play for their conference championship. The ACC has been considered to be a one-team conference in the CFP, but Clemson can make a legitimate case. 

Ideally, the Hurricanes will slip up in one of their next two games and allow the Tigers a chance to face SMU. For Miami, they were ranked as the highest team in the ACC in the CFP rankings at 8th overall. 

With a couple of weeks to go and some big games still to play, it will be very interesting to see if the Tigers can have a few things go right for them. If it does, they can make some noise in the CFP.