College Gameday Hosts Predict Clemson Tigers Playoff Chances

The Clemson Tigers were well represented in the college football playoff predictions of the hosts of College Gameday.

Oct 1, 2022; Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney (middle) claps and interacts with the fans while seated between analysts Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit during ESPN College GameDay before playing the NC State Wolfpack at Memorial Stadium. / Anderson Independent Mail-USA TODAY Sports

The outlook on the Clemson Tigers season seems to change drastically depending on whoever is being asked. Such was the case on Saturday as a group of predictions had multiple outcomes for the school.

With the first games of the college football season being played on Saturday, the folks over at the iconic program "ESPN College Gameday" had their first episode as well.

Serving as a bit of a "preview" of the season since there were only a couple of games being played, the hosts came together to give their predicitons on how the first edition of the expanded playoffs would shake out.

Among the four analysts that gave their takes, the Tigers were only listed on two of them.

Kirk Herbstreit was highest on the Clemson team, having them winning the ACC and earning one of the coveted bye weeks in the first round.

"[The Tigers], to me, [are] the team you'd better look out for. Everybody's making fun of Dabo [Swinney]," said Herbstreit. "Clemson, I think, is a very dangerous team."

The Florida State Seminoles also made the playoffs in his prediction, but with at-large bid. After their loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the first game of the season, that is their most likely chance with a stellar close to the year.

Desmond Howard also had the Tigers making the playoffs, but has them losing the ACC while still earning one of the at-large bids. In his prediction, the Miami Hurricanes were the team to earn the bye week for winning the conference.

Howard would have Clemson taking on the Ohio State Buckeyes in their first game of the playoffs, which would be a massive win for the expanded field. Having two blue-bloods fighting outside of the top four seeds would be wildly entertaining.

Legendary former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban was one of the people to not have the Tigers in their initial playoff prediction.

He took the biggest hit with the Seminoles loss on Saturday as he had them winning the ACC and being the only team in the conference to make the playoffs. While it wouldn't be impossible, it's gotten a lot less likely.

Unsurprisingly, Pat McAfee's prediction is where things fell off the rails. The Virginia Tech Hokies were the winners of the conference and earned a bye week. The West Virginia Mountaineers also had a first-round bye on his list.

The Tigers are in a good spot, being included on two of the analysts lists that seem to be the more sensible ones after the first weekend of college football.