The Clemson football program shocked the world in January when the Tigers demolished Alabama. Here are five signs the Tigers have broken the SEC.
The SEC world just hasn’t known how to react since the Clemson football program’s impressive feat back in January.
Though the Tigers entered as underdogs during last season’s National Championship, they quickly put that notion to rest. Clemson defeated Alabama 44-16 in front of the entire nation.
The Tigers were absolutely better in every facet compared to the Crimson Tide and it really wasn’t all that close.
Following the win, Clemson football fans had the opportunity to celebrate their second National Championship in the past three seasons. Though the Tigers had once been known as the lovable underdog, they turned very quickly to an evil empire, at least in the eyes of those invested in the SEC.
The Tigers proved once-and-for-all during that game that they weren’t going anywhere and that they were legitimate threats to Alabama’s spot atop the College Football world. As a matter of fact, many national analysts would argue that the Clemson football program overtook Alabama on the throne that night and there’s no signs of the Tigers relinquishing that spot any time soon.
Here are five signs that Clemson football may have broken the Southeastern Conference as a whole.
5. SEC media members, Bama players are defensive
We have a special slide for one SEC media member, in particular, but the first sign that has shown itself is the defensive nature that both SEC media members and Alabama players have shown following the loss.
For example, there are media members who cover the SEC- not Alabama- who are coming to the Crimson Tide’s defense. Mike Griffith, a UGA beat writer, has continued to push narratives that Alabama was the ‘best team in September and October’ and that the Crimson Tide were ‘fatigued from a tough SEC schedule.’
There are several other SEC media members who have picked up on these narratives, but it extends outside of just the talking heads.
Even Alabama players have made excuses and are defensive about the loss. Instead of giving credit to Clemson football, Crimson Tide players like Dylan Moses talked about how they were fatigued and it had more to do with them being distracted rather than the Tigers just being better than them.
That defensive nature tells us there’s a bit of insecurity when it comes to both SEC media members and Alabama players alike.
4. Anything to criticize Dabo Swinney
In addition to being defensive when it comes to the loss, SEC media members have tried to attack Dabo Swinney on every single front possible.
If Swinney said the ‘sky is blue,’ SEC media members would have something negative to say about how he hates rainy days, which therefore means he hates the environment.
One of the issues that came up recently had to with the fact that Dabo Swinney didn’t give Kelly Bryant a ring.
Though unbiased eyes could see why Bryant didn’t receive a National Championship ring- let alone the fact that it would be against NCAA rules for him to get one- those anti-Clemson (with the exception of a few) took to their outlets to bash Swinney for ‘not caring about his players’ and being ‘petty.’
That’s just one little example of a non-story issue that has come up this offseason. We’re not saying that Dabo Swinney is untouchable or that he shouldn’t be criticized from time-to-time, but there have been way too many non-stories about Swinney generated by the media this offseason just looking for something to criticize.
3. Paul Finebaum’s conversations
Paul Finebaum has talked more about Clemson football on his SEC show this offseason than basically any other program in his conference.
Finebaum has continuously looked for opportunities to poke the Clemson fan base and discredit the Tigers’ win, and the program in general. He says that Clemson doesn’t know how to win and has openly criticized Clemson players and Dabo Swinney throughout the offseason.
Though Finebaum saw no problem with Alabama LB Dylan Moses saying that Georgia was the Tide’s toughest opponent, he called Clemson OL John Simpson’s comments ‘stupid’ when Simpson said that Notre Dame was the toughest opponent of the year for the Tigers.
Clemson has been living rent free in the minds of die hard SEC fans, and it’s clear by the conversations being had on Paul Finebaum’s show.
2. Even Nick Saban is making excuses
It was expected that Paul Finebaum would be making excuses throughout the offseason for Alabama.
Finebaum has always propped up Nick Saban and that Crimson Tide program no matter what facts were presented, but it was absolutely surprising when we began to hear Nick Saban make some of the same excuses.
Saban told SEC media that there were too many distractions surrounding his program- especially with the coaching staff- and that led to the Crimson Tide not being prepared for the National Championship game.
It’s almost as if Saban was feeding Finebaum his talking points the entire time…
I guess we should just forget the fact that it was the biggest game of the year and it shouldn’t have taken any motivation to be focused for a National Championship game. We should also forget that Alabama seemed just fine and locked in early on when the team led early in the game, but somehow they weren’t mentally prepared once the second quarter started.
1. The Future is Bright
If this was just a one-year wonder, we wouldn’t be hearing Paul Finebaum spend countless hours each week talking about it.
After Clemson won the National Championship in 2016, everyone outside of the program was convinced that the Tigers would go back to being irrelevant in the playoff picture with no Deshaun Watson.
Little did they know a Trevor Lawrence would be stepping in just two years later and that the Tigers would continue to recruit at an elite level and develop at an even higher level.
The reason we’re hearing so much talk attempting to discredit Clemson football is because everyone knows that the Tigers are here to stay. Clemson currently has the top recruiting class in the 2020 cycle.
5-stars are lining up to visit Clemson and many are recognizing just how different and special Tiger Town is. Because of that, Clemson isn’t just a threat to win a one-off National Title. No, Clemson is a legitimate threat to becoming the new dynasty of College Football.
It’s a fear that is deeply rooted in the minds of SEC fans- especially in Tuscaloosa and in Paul Finebaum’s studio- unlike anything else. The future looks bright in Clemson and that presents a problem for Alabama and the rest of the SEC, since the Crimson Tide has carried the conference on their shoulders for the past decade.