The latest AP Top 25 Poll was not particularly kind to the ACC. Only two of its 17 teams were ranked this week, with a third dropping out. Miami moved up two spots from No. 6 to No. 4 after clobbering Central Michigan, while SMU went up one place from No. 22 to No. 21 after surviving Missouri State. Louisville is no longer ranked after falling at home to Wake Forest. Clemson did not receive a vote...
So what does this mean for the Tigers? If they were to somehow beat Miami at home next weekend, they might be the team to beat in the ACC. SMU has not taken firm control of the No. 2 spot behind Miami a month into the season. With Louisville having no defense to speak of, the Cardinals are so hard to trust. This is why Clemson could make up some ground in the conference standings soon.
Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, and Louisville all received votes. While Clemson was not going to get more votes than any of them, they might be closer to Louisville than you even realize. Unfortunately for the Tigers, unless they beat Miami, nobody is going to be paying much attention to them. Clemson has its bye after that game, and will be hosting Charleston Southern during Week 7.
Clemson may be only be ranked this season if it ends up beating Miami
What the latest AP Top 25 Poll tells us is Clemson's best shot at getting back into the national conversation is by slaying Goliath. While the team is getting better each and every week, the offense has not quite caught up to the defense. Until Clemson can play a full four quarters of great football in all three phases, it might be too tall of a task for them to beat a team that it has no business doing so.
However, what is important to understand is Clemson getting to Charlotte is considerably more feasible than we could have guessed. The Tigers are already 2-0 in ACC play. They only have six more conference games left, plus Charleston Southern and South Carolina still left on the docket. As long as Clemson takes care of business in every other game but Miami, it could have a shot at redemption.
Right now, Clemson needs to find ways to get past all the teams between them and Miami. To be honest, the best way to do that is to confront the biggest challenge of their season head-on. If Clemson were to knock off Miami, they might shoot to the top of the conference standings. If the Tigers were to lose, they will remain behind the likes of SMU, Duke, and Wake Forst across the ACC.
There is no easy way around this. Clemson's season may come down to this game with the Canes. A win puts the Tigers back into the national conversation in a big way, while a loss will leave them totally irrelevant in a lackluster ACC. Yes, there could be meaningful wins for them down the line versus Florida State and Duke, but nothing will carry the gravitas of what the Miami game will be all about.
We have seen crazier things happen in college football before, so why not believe in the upset bid?
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