Clemson Football: SEC media tries, but can’t discredit Tigers

There has been a ton of talk about Clemson football’s schedule lately, but yet SEC fans and media alike can’t honestly defend their argument.

Clemson football defeated Alabama 44-16 in the National Championship game back in January.

The result of the game was such a shock that it sent the Paul Finebaums and SEC media of the world away for several weeks looking for an answer.

Instead of attempting to find a valid argument and speak truth- like just admitting that Clemson was better than Alabama in every single facet of the game- media analysts began to build their arguments on what Crimson Tide players said after the game.

Alabama players talked about how they had just made too many mistakes and it was nothing that Clemson really did. Crimson Tide players said that they were ‘mentally fatigued’ from playing such a brutal SEC schedule.

That was the shiny diamond in the ruff for SEC analysts and fans alike to grasp hold to. (Because, let’s be honest, SEC analysts are nothing more than fans with a suit and tie on)

“Clemson’s ACC schedule is so easy.” They began to chant. “Clemson gets a bye to the CFB Playoff.” They sang aloud.

For the first time, even the majority of Alabama fans began to wave the SEC flag. Instead of the likes of South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State chanting “S-E-C,” it was the Crimson Tide fans whining and complaining about their so-called brutal schedule and how that had put Bama at an unfair disadvantage when playing Clemson in the National Championship game.

Yes, they had finally found the answer. Columbia and Tuscaloosa were finally united.

But, they forgot one thing. They forgot some simple facts. After being brainwashed by the SEC Network and being told that the SEC was the best conference in the nation for so many years, they forgot that LSU, Auburn and Ole Miss were not powerhouses, after all.

They forgot that the SEC East may be the easiest division in all of College Football without Georgia.

They forgot that the SEC had but two elite teams- Alabama and Georgia- with a bunch a subpar, overrated and outdated programs sitting behind them riding their coattails.

Because the SEC isn’t an elite conference, Alabama ran roughshod over the subpar competition. In their nine SEC wins [counting UGA], the Crimson Tide won those games by a combined score of 409-141. That’s a margin of 268 points (an average of 29.8 points per game).

Starters were rested in the fourth quarter, and jokes were made on the sideline all season by Crimson Tide players, who smiled and looked on as they watched their team score 40, 50 and 60 points week after week.

The last thing that schedule was for Alabama was grueling. Easy? Cake walk? Free path to the CFB Playoff? Those are all words that could describe the schedule.

Did Alabama suffer a few injuries? Yes. But, it certainly wasn’t the grind of the schedule that caused the injuries. It might’ve been the fact that guys like Tua Tagovailoa never really got into full football shape because they were sitting out so often.

In the end, if it is true that Alabama was mentally fatigued after playing that schedule, the Crimson Tide have nobody to blame but themselves. It may be that never prepared properly.

There are other reasons you could point to, but it’s not the schedule.

Now, I’m not saying that Clemson football’s schedule is difficult. The main point I’m making with the schedule is that teams like Clemson, Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State are going to have “easier schedules.”

Why? Because they are just better than the competition. There’s an elite ring of College Football programs and, right now, those programs are deeper, more talented and are better coached than the other 95 percent of programs in the country, regardless of conference. Period.

Oh, and as far as the National Championship is concerned, there’s only one analysis that can be made from that night: One team was better prepared, ready to go and the more talented team. That was Clemson.

Clemson was just better than anything the SEC could put on the field in 2018. Could that change in 2019? Sure. But, it certainly won’t as long as players continue to make excuses and pretending that their path is so much more difficult.