The last ten years of Clemson football have been the best. Two national championships, multiple playoff appearances, multiple ACC championships, and a long streak of ten-win seasons.
Last year’s ‘down’ season when the Tigers did not go to the playoff has made fans hungrier than ever to get back to that lofty goal. For much of the 2022 season, it looked like the Tigers had righted the ship and they had a good shot to finish in the Top 4.
The chances of a return to the playoffs took a major hit Saturday night, as Clemson was defeated by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and wasn’t remotely close. The Tigers were exposed at every level.
The sting of this loss has obscured a noteworthy achievement for the Tigers. When the Syracuse Orange lost to the Pittsburgh Panthers Saturday afternoon, it clinched the final ACC Atlantic Division Championship for Clemson and guaranteed them a spot in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte on December 3rd (the ACC will stop using the divisional format in 2023).
Last week, my family decided to go ahead and buy tickets for the championship game. We celebrated when we heard the Tigers clinched this weekend instead of the next, which was our expectation. That joy was short-lived, but today we wake up and that achievement hasn’t changed: Clemson will be playing for a conference championship in 2022.
That’s a big step over 2021. Last season, the Tigers were hanging onto a prayer going into the last weekend of the season that they could somehow win a tiebreaker to get into the ACCCG. This year, they have clinched the division with three weekends left in the regular season.
The National Championship is the ultimate goal for Clemson football, but there are other goals still in sight
I know it’s easy to get excited about the possibility of playing for a natty, but if we reset and remember where this team was last season, and what our objective and realistic expectations were for this season, the Tigers are on target for what we expected. No one objectively thought Clemson would win a national championship. There was a chance they could make the playoffs, but it was far from a slam dunk.
The Tigers are not eliminated from contention for a playoff spot, but their odds are roughly the same as the 2021 team could somehow find themselves in the ACC championship game. There is a sliver of hope, but I recommend that you not get your hopes too high.
Just the fact that the Tigers have traded a glimmer of hope that they could play in Charlotte for a glimmer of hope that they could make the playoffs puts things in perspective. Clemson has taken a step forward, and a conference championship and a New Year’s Six bowl game are still possible.
This season isn’t over.