Story by
Why Dabo Swinney believes Clemson football should make CFP despite having two losses
- Story by
- Why Dabo Swinney believes Clemson football should make CFP despite having two losses
CLEMSON — If Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney had his way, the Tigers would make the College Football Playoff.
The No. 16 Tigers (8-2) , who sit at No. 20 in the CFP rankings, won their past two games, including beating Pittsburgh (7-3, 3-3 ACC) 24-20 on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium behind Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik's late-game heroics . They finished 7-1 in conference play but may miss the ACC title game in favor of Miami (9-1, 5-1) and SMU (9-1, 6-0) because of their Week 10 home loss to Louisville .
Advertisement
According to ESPN's FPI, Clemson has a 13.4% chance to win the ACC and 20.1% to make the CFP — both are increases after Week 12. In order for Clemson to make the conference championship, it needs Miami to lose again or SMU to drop its last two games. Clemson's chances are slimmer for a CFP at-large bid, needing multiple high-ranked teams to stumble in the final two weeks.
Still, Swinney argued Clemson's case to make the playoffs after Saturday's win vs. Pitt.
"Why not? I mean, it's hard to win. We're 8-2," Swinney said. "We got one freaking loss in this league. We don't play the other team that's undefeated, and I think we got a team that's really, kind of, just finding their way right now."
Swinney admitted Clemson's two losses this season were tough but credited a bad third quarter for its defeat to Georgia in Week 1 and an overall poor outing against Louisville. Still, he pointed out Clemson went undefeated on the road for the 10th time in program history this season, and it avenged every loss it took last year except for Duke, who wasn't on its schedule.
Advertisement
Swinney added the Tigers have a "great quarterback" with Klubnik, who is tied for fourth in FBS in touchdown passes with 26. Swinney said Klubnik is statistically comparable to former Clemson quarterbacks Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence , both of whom won national championships for the Tigers.
Swinney's final argument was Clemson is a staple of the CFP, making it six straight years from 2015 to 2020 to win two national championships.
'CRAZY FEELING': How Clemson football, Cade Klubnik pulled off season-saving touchdown run vs Pitt
"We're a program that got the second-most playoff wins (and) second-most national championships. Why not?," Swinney said. "We've proven that we can play on that stage, but this team in particular, if they want to have a shot at that, they gotta finish."
Advertisement
Clemson doesn't control its destiny to win the conference, but it can enhance its CFP resume when it faces in-state rival No. 19 South Carolina on Nov. 30 at Memorial Stadium. A strong win vs. the Gamecocks , a team that has won four straight games with three coming against ranked opponents, can cause the CFP committee to reconsider Clemson's ranking for the playoffs.
"We're in the fight," Swinney said. "We had a chance to control our destiny, so we need a little bit of help, but all we can do is take care of our business. We got a chance to finish 10-2."
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Dabo Swinney makes pitch for College Football Playoff
