Clemson Football: Ranking College Football resumes after Week 7

It’s hard to believe that college football has wrapped up Week 7, and Clemson Football only has one game left before the College Football Playoff committee announces their first Top 25 of the 2022 season on November 2nd.

The Tigers are 7-0 and will face the last remaining undefeated team in the ACC Atlantic, the Syracuse Orange, this Saturday in Death Valley. An interesting quirk of this season is that Clemson has already faced all four ACC road tests of the year (the ACC considers the Georgia Tech game to be a road game for Clemson, even though it wasn’t contested at Bobby Dodd Stadium).

The road wins have been boosting Clemson’s resume this season. The Tigers have had the best overall resume score for the last few weeks, but some other quality programs have been close behind.

For a quick review, the resume scores are based on:

• Whether you win or lose
• Who you played: Top 25 (currently – we don’t care how badly they were over-ranked in Week 3), Power Five, Group of Five or FCS
• Where you played: home, away or neutral

This is the current AP Top 5, and how their resume scores shape up:

#1 Georgia – Resume score: 26

Georgia’s victory this past weekend over Vanderbilt is a good case study for understanding eye test vs resume. An eye tester might look at their 55-0 victory and be blown away by the style points. A different eye tester could look at the opponent and not be impressed because they consider the Commodores to be an easy opponent. The resume score is straightforward: Georgia got a home win against a unranked Power Five opponent, which is worth three resume points. They had a score of 23 last week, and no one they have faced this season jumped into or dropped out of the AP Top 25. That means they have 26 resume points this week, which gives them the second best result of anyone nationally.

#2 Ohio State – Resume score: 19

Unlike Clemson, which has hit the road early and often this season, the Buckeyes have only played away from home once this year, and then had their bye week. When it comes to the resume, if you aren’t playing, you aren’t adding to your resume, so Ohio State’s resume score still sits at 19, easily the lowest of the AP Top 5. They pass the eye test, especially on offense, but if/when a team slips up, then everyone suddenly realizes their resume isn’t that great. Keep in mind that everyone has a bye eventually, so there will be weekends soon when the Buckeyes’ peers will be at home while Ohio State has a chance to get more victories.

#3 Tennessee – Resume score: 23

We see you Rocky Top. This is another good case study for the resume score. Tennessee’s offense was awesome (except for that one scoop & score) and probably earned big time eye test respect. Tennessee’s defense? Well, um, they allowed 42 points. There are many ways to win a game and the resume really doesn’t care if you do it with offense, defense or whatever. Just win on the scoreboard. Tennessee finally beats a team that doesn’t drop out of the Top 25, and now have a very respectable resume score.

#4 Michigan – Resume score: 25

We see you Big Blue. A week after taking all kinds of guff from people for having a weak schedule, the Wolverines thump their first ranked opponent. They earned 4 points for a home victory over a team presently ranked in the AP Top 25, giving them the third best resume in the nation, and rendering all those takes from last week freezing cold. Suddenly, Michigan now has another future ranked opponent on their schedule with Illinois, who could be 9-1 going into that game.

#5 Clemson – Resume score: 32.25

Back in the 5th spot again, the Tigers simply went on the road and beat another Power Five opponent. If you want to question why road victories are so much more valuable for the resume than home victories, just ask Georgia about playing at Missouri, or Michigan about playing at Indiana. Playing on the road is hard, and the committee respects road victories when determining their rankings. The flip side of playing four road games in the first seven weeks? There aren’t many opportunities left to score road points the rest of the way. Just one road contest left in South Bend. Other teams will have their shot to catch the Tigers’ resume score over the next few weeks.