In just a few years, Clemson football fans will likely be introduced to an entirely new CFB Playoff system that will change the way we view the sport for years to come.
While nothing is official as of yet, the CFB Playoff committee has received recommendations from its working group to expand the playoff field from four teams currently to 12 teams.
Things can still change- and likely will- but the format currently will allow the six highest-ranked conference champions to earn automatic qualifiers with the four highest-ranked conference champions earning byes through the first round. Following those six automatic qualifiers, there will be six at-large bids that will be determined by the committee’s rankings and there are currently no limits on how many teams a single conference can have in the field.
Do you know what that means? It’s very likely that we’ll see two, three, maybe even four SEC teams earn at-large bids in the playoffs.
Clemson football fans should never have to hear from SEC homers again under this new system
If the committee doesn’t limit teams in the playoff and we end up seeing 5 or 6 SEC teams in the field year-in and year-out, Clemson football fans should never have to hear from SEC homers again.
We’ve heard for years from SEC fans about how the Tigers would ‘never survive’ if they were in the SEC. Clemson would never make it into the CFB Playoff field if it wasn’t for the weak ACC, right?
Well, in this new system, the Tigers can put that all to rest.
There’s a chance that Clemson- on its way to a National Championship- could beat anywhere between 2-4 SEC teams. That’s not even counting the 1-2 teams from the conference that the Tigers will be playing in the regular season.
SEC fans will have no laurels to lie on any more. If you can’t finish 9-3 overall- and believe me, the playoff committee will take mediocre 9-3 teams from the SEC- then you have nothing to stand on when it comes to your thoughts that you’re ‘elite.’
We all know that if Clemson football was in the SEC, the Tigers would finish first or second every single year. The only team on Clemson’s level is Alabama. The Tigers don’t finish 11-1 or 12-0 every year because of the weakness of the ACC. They finish 11-1 or 12-0 every year because they’re on another level in the ranks of College Football. But now, SEC fans will get to see that up-close and personal.