Clemson Football: CFB Playoff picture, scenarios heading into Week 13
What does the CFB Playoff picture look like for Clemson football and the rest of the nation heading into Week 13 of the season?
The Clemson football team will have an open date this weekend before closing out the regular season with a matchup against in-state rival South Carolina.
The Tigers are currently 11-0 and are on track to get back to the CFB Playoff with a win over the Gamecocks and then a victory in the ACC Championship game.
Despite that, there are still plenty of interesting scenarios in terms of the playoff when it comes to Clemson football.
Here’s a look at the playoff picture and scenarios for Clemson football fans to watch as we head into Week 13.
CFB Playoff Picture: Week 13 (A *star* indicates a team has one-loss)
ACC: Clemson
Big Ten: Ohio State, Penn State*, Minnesota*
Big 12: Oklahoma*
Pac-12: Oregon*, Utah*
SEC: LSU, Georgia*, Alabama*
These are the teams that still have a shot at getting back in the playoff. At this point, I wouldn’t say that Penn State or Minnesota have a solid chance, but it could happen if they run the table and win the Big Ten.
No one-loss team- or Clemson football, for that matter- can afford another loss and still get in, but it stands to reason that Ohio State and LSU could still lose a game and not be fully eliminated.
One of the most interesting scenarios have to do with the two teams ahead of Clemson in the rankings. Though LSU holds the No. 1 spot right now, the Buckeyes could potentially vault back into that spot with a win over top-10 ranked Penn State and then a win over a top-15 ranked Michigan. If Ohio State then beat Minnesota, they’d have three potential top-15 wins in the last three weeks.
If that happened, LSU could drop to the No. 2 spot and we could see a matchup of Clemson-LSU in Atlanta for the CFB Playoff semifinal. That would be an excellent atmosphere and certainly one of the more exciting semifinals we’ve seen in quite some time.
It will be interesting to see what the committee does with that No. 4 spot. If LSU loses to Georgia in the SEC Championship, the Tigers could stay in the field of four despite a loss.
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It will also be interesting to see if the committee favors a one-loss Pac-12 champion- as they should- over one-loss Alabama. A one-loss Big 12 Champion in Oklahoma could also potentially make some noise, but we don’t believe that Baylor- even if the Bears win-out- will have enough to get back into the CFB Playoff race and that’s why they’re excluded from our list above.