Rubbing the Rock
Fansided

Clemson football: Yahoo Sports doesn’t like Tigers’ chances

By Shawn Spencer

Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei(5) greets Clemson quarterback Hunter Helms(18) before warmups at football practice in Clemson, S.C. Monday, March 22, 2021.Clemson Spring Football Practice
Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei(5) greets Clemson quarterback Hunter Helms(18) before warmups at football practice in Clemson, S.C. Monday, March 22, 2021.Clemson Spring Football Practice /
facebooktwitterreddit

Despite the amount of talent the 2021 Clemson football team will possess, Yahoo Sports doesn’t like the Tigers’ chances of advancing past the CFB Playoff semifinal round for a second-straight season.

Yahoo Sports posted bowl projections for the 2021 season and had Clemson making it to the CFB Playoff, but nothing more.

The publication had Clemson in the Orange Bowl taking on the Oklahoma Sooners. On the other side of the bracket, it was Alabama and Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. The end prediction? Alabama vs. Oklahoma for the National Championship in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Clemson football team will have a chip on its shoulder heading into the 2021 season

Have you heard of a single national analyst at this point predicting Clemson to win the National Championship?

We’ve heard analysts talk about Alabama. We’ve heard them mention Oklahoma and Georgia. We’ve even had some list Ohio State, but it seems the conversation ends when they get to Clemson.

It’s not that analysts don’t think the Tigers will be in the mix- though some are predicting a CFB Playoff without Clemson in 2021– but it’s that they don’t think Dabo Swinney and Co. have the ability to advance past the semifinals.

The embarrassing loss to Ohio State- and even LSU the previous year to a lesser extent- are looming large on the perception of this Clemson football program and that has led to many cooling off on the Tigers and believing that the program is beginning to regress.

What does that mean? Dabo Swinney is going to have plenty of motivational tools and talking points for this season. It’s my opinion that we’re going to see the most-focused Clemson football team that we’ve seen since 2018 this season.

Here’s a look at a the New Year Six Bowl projections for the publication:

  • Sugar Bowl: Iowa State vs. Georgia
  • Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oregon
  • Fiesta Bowl: LSU vs. Notre Dame
  • Peach Bowl: UCF vs. Texas A&M

It’s clear the author isn’t very high on the ACC. They’ve got North Carolina all the way down in the Holiday Bowl and they’ve got Virginia Tech as the next-highest ACC team outside of Clemson in the Sun Bowl. Miami, a preseason top-15 team, is projected in the Gator Bowl against Auburn.

Next. Ranking the 2021 schedule by difficulty. dark

Home/Clemson Football