Clemson Football: SEC Analyst still believes Bama was better than the Tigers
Some SEC analysts just refuse to believe that Clemson football is better than Alabama, despite what actual results show on the field.
What do people who can’t accept the truth do? They live in the hypothetical.
Instead of some SEC analysts just admitting that Clemson football was better than Alabama in 2018, they like to mask their arguments in the hypothetical and make ridiculous statements about how “Clemson wouldn’t go undefeated with an SEC schedule” and how “Bama had such a grind in the regular season.”
Mike Griffith, a beat reporter for Dawg Nation, still maintains that Alabama was the best team in the country, Clemson was just the best team in the College Football Playoff.
Folks, not apologizing for my opinion Alabama was best team in 2018 regular season - Clemson was best team in the playoffs. Clemson has easy schedule in 2019 and should back in CFB playoff. Enjoy the ride and having a great head coach and staff. https://t.co/vQTXafLPiw
— MikeGriffith32 (@MikeGriffith32) February 5, 2019
No, Clemson hasn’t proven that - it’s in ACC, arguably the worst of Power 5 conferences. It was a great win over Alabama - but don’t get power drunk off one game. The Detroit Lions beat the Patriots in one game last year - it’s football. That said, Dabo is great, Lawrence, too. https://t.co/QOANqC7UP3
— MikeGriffith32 (@MikeGriffith32) February 5, 2019
The last time I got in this ridiculous of a debate it involved the country of Latvia and it’s beach volleyball team. Clemson fans really believe they’d run the table and beat Georgia, LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State playing SEC teams week-in and week out? 🤷🏻♂️
— MikeGriffith32 (@MikeGriffith32) February 5, 2019
I don't believe Clemson would have gone undefeated playing SEC schedule & SEC title game in 2018. Alabama did it twice in last seven years - no other SEC program pulled it off since 2011 LSU. Clemson got better as Lawrence grew in 2018 -- best team in CFP. https://t.co/o8c3Eccbtr
— MikeGriffith32 (@MikeGriffith32) February 5, 2019
Thoughts:
Griffith just doesn’t get it. He, like a lot of other SEC fans, lives in a world where every single SEC program is comparable to what it was 10, 15, maybe even 20 years ago.
I guess he believes that the Tigers would struggle with a schedule that included Missouri, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Or a schedule that included LSU, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and the powerhouse known as Arkansas.
The week-in, week-out grind didn’t really seem to affect Alabama during the regular season when their starters were sitting on the bench for the entire fourth quarter every single week. Honestly, it’s just a ridiculous statement to say that Clemson wouldn’t compete in the SEC.
There are only two teams worthy of top-10 rankings in the SEC: Alabama and Georgia. The other teams are overrated, inflated and absolutely bolstered by the national media and the perception that they create.
Perhaps the point that Bama peaked too early and Clemson peaked at the right time is more of a testament of the coaching of Dabo Swinney vs. Nick Saban rather than who the better team was.
Next. 5 Tigers who outplayed their star-ratings. dark
It seems more likely to me that Dabo Swinney built his depth and kept his guys fresh with eyes on the postseason while Nick Saban focused on running up the score and padding stats, instead of playing his second and third-string guys.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter. Clemson football would rather be the better team in the postseason, anyway. And who cares about the hypotheticals that analysts want to pull out just to get a reaction or fill time in a broadcast or space on a website?