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Clemson Football: Will the Tigers be No. 1 in the first CFB Playoff poll?

By Shawn Spencer

TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 27: Deondre Francois #12 of the Florida State Seminoles throws a pass while under pressure in the second quarter of the game against the Clemson Tigers at Doak Campbell Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 27: Deondre Francois #12 of the Florida State Seminoles throws a pass while under pressure in the second quarter of the game against the Clemson Tigers at Doak Campbell Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Could Clemson football start out the first playoff poll in 2018 as the No. 1 team in the nation? It’s certainly possible.

There are two teams that have set themselves apart from the rest in the College Football world in 2018.

It’s Alabama and Clemson.

It’s Clemson and Alabama.

The two teams are on a collision course for each other, in my opinion, and nothing except themselves can keep the matchup from happening.

With that being said, when the College Football Playoff poll comes out Tuesday evening, will we see Clemson football ranked No. 1 or will the Crimson Tide retain that spot atop the poll?

CFB Playoff Committee Metrics:

When you look at some of the key metrics that the playoff committee will look at, you’ll see that the Tigers are leaders in several of those categories, as ESPN’s David Hale pointed out.

The Tigers currently have three wins vs. FPI Top-40 teams vs. Alabama’s two and two wins against ranked opponents, while the Crimson Tide has just one.

Clemson also has the No. 1 strength of record in the country, which is a metric that the playoff committee looks fairly heavily at.

As far as the eye test, I think you could make the argument for either of the teams at No. 1, but the Crimson Tide still probably have the edge because of the dominance that they’ve played with all season. Clemson got out to a little bit of a slow start and is currently playing catch up.

In the end, though, I think you see Bama ranked No. 1 and Clemson No. 2. If the two were flipped this week, they’d be flipped back the other way next week anyway if Alabama beats LSU, as we expect they will.

Predictions:

Here’s a look at our prediction for the College Football Playoff top-10.

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. Notre Dame
  4. LSU
  5. Michigan
  6. Georgia
  7. Oklahoma
  8. UCF
  9. Ohio State
  10. Washington State

Next. Is a 37-point spread too low for Clemson vs. Louisville?. dark

Not necessarily saying that I agree with all of it, but I think the poll is going to look pretty similar to this. They may surprise us and move a team up a slot or two and another team down a couple of slots, but these are the 10 teams I think you see inside the top-10 and I think there’s no particular order following Alabama and Clemson.

UPDATE:

The top-four have been released:

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. LSU
  4. Notre Dame
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