How would Clemson fare with South Carolina’s schedule?
How would Clemson fare with South Carolina’s schedule?
There has been a constant nag from South Carolina fans about Clemson’s schedule every single season for quite a while.
Though the Tigers schedule legitimate competition out-of-conference and have played several top-25 teams over the course of the past few years- 2019 was an outlier- Gamecock fans like to maintain the stance that if they had Clemson’s schedule that they would somehow magically become national contenders as well.
Today, let’s take a moment to flip that argument on its head. South Carolina is currently being out-recruited by the entire ACC, so let’s not pretend that the Gamecocks would somehow be favorites in the ACC. So, instead, let’s take a look at what Clemson would do with South Carolina’s schedule- which is currently ranked as the No. 1 toughest schedule in the nation.
Of course, the game at the end of the season will still be South Carolina on our Clemson breakdown.
Game-by-Game predictions for Clemson with South Carolina’s 2020 schedule
*We will note each game with a win (W), loss (L), or half (0.5) if the game is a toss-up*
- Vs. Coastal Carolina (W)
- Vs. East Carolina (W)
- Vs. Missouri (W)
- @ Kentucky (W)
- @ Florida (0.5)
- Vs. Tennessee (W)
- Vs. Texas A&M (W)
- @ Vanderbilt (W)
- Vs. Georgia (W)
- @ LSU (0.5)
- Vs. Wofford (W)
- @ South Carolina (W)
So, there are no definitive losses on this schedule for Clemson and three games that could be close: @ Florida, @ LSU and vs. Georgia.
We noted Georgia as a win simply because the game is being played at home and the Bulldogs have a lot of moving pieces happening.
LSU and Florida we listed as ‘halves,’ but there’s no question that Clemson would be the favorite coming into the game.
Really, when looking at this schedule- one of the toughest in the nation- it seems that Clemson would finish 12-0, 11-1 or 10-2 at worst. The Tigers simply aren’t going to lose all three of those games (Georgia, Florida and LSU).
It’s much more likely that we would see 11-1 or 12-0 and do you know what that would mean? Another berth in the CFB Playoff.
South Carolina’s schedule is daunting, without a doubt, but there are nine guaranteed wins for Clemson on that ‘brutal schedule’ and in all three of the games that aren’t guaranteed, the Tigers would still be favored. Do you really believe Florida is going to beat Clemson? Would LSU get another win over the Tigers after beating them in the National Championship game?
Next. Travis Etienne will leave as the greatest ACC RB of all-time. dark
The overall fact of the matter is that Clemson would be a CFB Playoff team with any schedule in the country and that’s simply because of the talent and depth that the Tigers have developed under Dabo Swinney.