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Clemson Football: Tigers predicted to play Notre Dame in the CFB Playoff

By Shawn Spencer

Ben Boulware, Dabo Swinney, Clemson Tigers. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Ben Boulware, Dabo Swinney, Clemson Tigers. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The 2018 Clemson football team is the most likely team to make the College Football Playoff, according to ESPN. The metrics have the Tigers playing a surprise opponent in the semifinals.

Clemson football is a heavy favorite to make the College Football Playoff in 2018 and for good reason.

The Tigers return a defensive lineman full of NFL Draft picks and plenty of skill position players on both sides of the ball to keep opposing coaching staffs awake at night.

ESPN introduced its “Playoff Predictor” this week and it had the Tigers will the best chance to make it back to the College Football Playoff.

The Playoff Predictor takes into account five factors: Strength of Record, FPI, Number of Losses, Conference Championships and Independent Status.

Basically, they input a lot of information that they believe to be correct mixed in with some analytics and it comes up with a percentage.

While it’s no surprise to see Clemson as one of the top teams to make the College Football Playoff, there were a few surprises. Here’s a look at the top-5, according to ESPN’s Playoff Predictor.

ESPN CFB Playoff Predictor:

  1. Clemson—67% chance at playoff, 24% to win championship
  2. Alabama—47% chance at playoff, 14% to win championship
  3. Georgia—46 % chance at playoff, 13 % to win championship
  4. Notre Dame—42% chance at playoff, 10% to win championship
  5. Washington—41% chance at playoff, 11% to win championship

Ohio State, Oklahoma, Auburn, Penn State and Michigan State round out the top-10.To me, it’s interesting to see the predictor come out with a Clemson vs. Notre Dame match up in the CFB Playoff semifinals.

Somehow for the system to be correct, though, we’d have to see Alabama and Georgia get back into the playoff for a second-straight season which I don’t see happening.

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Personally, I don’t see Notre Dame inside the top-8, much less the playoff. The Fighting Irish are making strides to be back, but they’re not there yet.

What do you think, Clemson football fans? Comment below.

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