Clemson Football: How two-loss Tiger team gets into CFB Playoff

How a two-loss Clemson football team still gets into the CFB Playoff

The expectation from Clemson football fans is that the Tigers will right the ship this weekend and get revenge on Notre Dame from the loss earlier in the season.

Clemson and Notre Dame will match up this Saturday afternoon in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte with the ACC Championship on the line.

With the latest precedent set by the CFB Playoff committee, the Fighting Irish have basically locked up their spot in the playoff regardless of what happens on Saturday, but what about the Tigers?

There is a large contingent of people that will say Clemson football is out with two losses, but that’s not what the committee has said

The CFB Playoff committee has made it clear what four teams it thinks should get into the semifinal. Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State have been the four teams throughout the playoff rankings and the committee has continued to view that group as the top-four teams in the country.

With Florida dropping just two spots to No. 7 with a putrid loss to a bad LSU team this weekend, could you really expect the playoff committee to drop Clemson very far if the Tigers were to lose to Notre Dame- the No. 2-ranked team in the country?

Do you really believe that two-loss Iowa State (even if they do win the Big 12) gets in over a two-loss Clemson when you look at the overall body of resumes? After all, the committee has already set precedent in the past that conference titles don’t particularly matter when they put Alabama in despite the Crimson Tide not even playing in their conference title game back in 2017.

There is certainly a path without anyone doing anything to help Clemson football that the Tigers still remain No. 4 even with a loss this Saturday.

But, if you want a path where the Tigers lose and you still feel good about them getting in, here’s what needs to happen:

If Clemson loses, the Tigers want: 

• Texas A&M to lose to Tennessee
• Iowa State to lose to Oklahoma
• USC to lose to Oregon

The Iowa State game probably doesn’t matter, but you still would feel better if the Cyclones lost because Oklahoma’s not making that jump into the playoff with a win.

The committee has all but said that the Group of 5 (like Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina) doesn’t matter to them, so the Tigers shouldn’t feel all that pressured by the likes of either of those two undefeated teams.

That leaves a one-loss Texas A&M and an undefeated USC. If both those teams were to lose this weekend, the Tigers get in no matter what.

Even if everyone wins, though, you still have to feel decent about your chances to still sneak in at that No. 4 spot.

All that being said, it’ll be much easier on everyone if Clemson football just finds a way to win this weekend and locks up its spot for sure with a victory over the Fighting Irish.