College Football Playoff Schedule Shows Clemson’s Postseason Path
If the Clemson Tigers are lucky enough to return to the College Football Playoff they now know how the full schedule will fall later this year.
The CFP released the game times for the first 12-team playoff, which starts on Dec. 20 on campus sites and ends on Jan. 20 in the CFP title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.
The Tigers made the second-most appearances in the CFP in the four-team playoff era, which started with the 2014 season. Only Alabama, with eight, has made more.
Clemson won the national championship at the end of the 2016 and 2018 seasons, while reaching the championship game at the end of the 2015 and 2019 seasons.
The Tigers have not been to the CFP since it lost in the semifinals of the 2020 season. With the expanded playoff they have a chance to end their three-year drought coming off a 9-4 season that ended with a win over Kentucky in the Gator Bowl.
The top five conference champions will get automatic bids into the playoff, with the remaining seven berths going to at-large teams. If the Tigers were to return to the top of the ACC, they would likely get a first-round bye.
This year’s playoff will start with campus-site games for the first time, with one first-round game set for 8 p.m. eastern on Dec. 21 and the other three set for Dec. 21 at noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Those games will feature No. 5 vs. No. 12, No. 6 vs. No. 11, No. 7 vs. No. 10 and No. 8 vs. No. 9, with the better seed hosting the game.
The first quarterfinal is set for Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fiesta Bowl. The remaining three quarterfinals will be on Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. (Peach Bowl), 5 p.m. (Rose Bowl) and 8:45 p.m. (Sugar Bowl). Those games will feature the top four seeds.
Semifinal games will be Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Orange Bowl and Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Cotton Bowl.
The national championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 20.
MATT POSTINS