ESPN projects Clemson to return to College Football Playoff after win over NC State
After back-to-back wins against ranked ACC opponents, Clemson is back in the College Football Playoff conversation in a big way.
The Tigers are also encroaching on Michigan, which has held the No. 4 spot in The Associated Press Top 25 poll over No. 5 Clemson for five consecutive weeks.
Clemson picked up 12 of 14 votes for the CFP’s fourth and final spot in a weekly straw poll of ESPN college football reporters released Sunday, marking the first time this season those voters were nearly unanimous on a fourth team behind Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State.
The gap between No. 5 Clemson and No. 4 Michigan, both 5-0 through five weeks, has also shrunk to a handful of votes in this week’s AP Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches Polls.
Though the CFP Selection Committee won’t release its first Top 25 ranking until Nov. 1, those trends are still a nod toward Clemson’s continued separation from the pack — and the Tigers’ very noticeable turnaround after early stumbles last September.
Consider this:
▪ Entering Week 6 in 2021, Clemson was 3-2 with a loss to N.C. State, averaging 21.2 points and 324 total yards per game and unranked for the first time in 107 weeks of AP poll iterations.
▪ Entering Week 6 in 2022, Clemson is 5-0 with wins over No. 21 Wake Forest and No. 10 N.C. State, averaging 41 points and 437.6 total yards per game and ranked fifth in the AP poll.
The Tigers even picked up a single No. 2 vote and two No. 3 votes among AP voters after handling the Wolfpack 30-20 on Saturday night to add to the nation’s longest active winning streak (11 games) and tie Florida State for the longest home winning streak in ACC history (37 games).
No. 4 Michigan and No. 5 Clemson were separated by just three voter points in the newest AP Top 25 poll (1,348 vs. 1,345) and just 22 in the newest USA TODAY Coaches Poll (1,374 vs. 1,352), which both award 25 points for a first-place vote, 24 for a second-place vote and so on.
The Tigers are 5-0 and 3-0 in the ACC with wins over ranked N.C. State and Wake Forest teams as well as Georgia Tech, Furman and Louisiana Tech, and the Wolverines are 5-0 and 2-0 in Big Ten play with wins over Colorado State, Hawaii, UConn, Maryland and Iowa.
Those positions flipped in ESPN’s weekly CFP poll, as 12 of 14 voters chose Clemson for the No. 4 spot behind Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State, all of whom were unanimous picks for the fifth-straight week. Michigan and Oregon got one vote apiece for the fourth spot.
ESPN’s Football Power Index also gives Clemson a 52.1% chance to make the College Football Playoff, fourth behind Alabama (86.6%), Ohio State (78.2%) and Georgia (65.3%).
Michigan (40.7%), Southern Cal (17.9%) and Utah (12.3%) are fifth, sixth and seventh in that model as of Monday.
Clemson’s toughest upcoming games, according to the ESPN FPI, are road contests at Florida State (Oct. 15) and at Notre Dame (Nov. 5).
Next Clemson football game
Who: No. 5 Clemson (5-0, 3-0 ACC) at Boston College (2-3, 1-2 ACC)
When: Saturday, Oct. 8
Where: Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
TV/kick time: 7:30 p.m., ABC
Line: Clemson by 20.5
