Forget just making the playoff. Forget a deep run. One prominent national analyst is calling his shot: the Clemson Tigers will go a perfect 16-0 and win the College Football Playoff National Championship.
CBS Sports analyst and former All-American lineman Aaron Taylor unveiled his official 12-team playoff bracket on Friday, and he has Dabo Swinney's squad sitting alone at the top as the undisputed kings of college football.
"I got Clemson winning," Taylor stated definitively. "I just think Dabo, with his ability to adjust and adapt and go in the portal and get some free agent pieces, has a team that goes undefeated and runs the table.”
The Championship Blueprint
For Taylor, this prediction is rooted in history. He sees a team constructed with the same dominant DNA as Clemson's past national championship squads.
“Clemson’s a team that’s built just like they were in 2016 and 2018; I think they advance," he said.
A Path Through Heavyweights
Taylor's bracket has Clemson earning the No. 1 overall seed and a first-round bye before navigating a gauntlet of blue-blood programs:
- Quarterfinal (Orange Bowl): A win over Texas.
- Semifinal (Peach Bowl): A victory against Ohio State.
- National Championship: A title-game triumph over his own alma mater, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The fact that Taylor, a Notre Dame legend, is picking against the Irish in the championship game serves as the ultimate endorsement of his belief in the Tigers.
Taylor's bold prediction aligns perfectly with Swinney's recently stated goal of becoming the first 16-0 team in major college football history. While many experts are high on Clemson, Taylor's is the most bullish forecast yet, adding a mountain of expectation just two weeks before the season kicks off.