Where Clemson ranks among best programs of four-team College Football Playoff era
The Clemson Tigers were absent from the four-team College Football Playoff during its final three years.
But the Tigers’ two national championships and six straight Playoff appearances were enough to make Clemson the second-best program in the history of the old format in a new ranking of the 12 best programs of the four-team model by Sporting News.
At the top of those rankings, of course, is Alabama. That’s impossible to argue. Nick Saban led the Crimson Tide to three national championships in the four-team era against fellow national powers Clemson, Georgia, and Ohio State.
Alabama also made three other appearances in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and the only teams that denied them of even more championship hardware were Georgia and “Little Ol’ Clemson.”
Dabo Swinney’s Tigers snuck past ‘Bama, 35-31, with one second left in the 2016 title game at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. Two years later, Clemson and Trevor Lawrence blew the Tide out of the water, 44-16, in a championship game rematch at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. That four-touchdown romp allowed Clemson to become the first 15-0 national champion in Division I college football history.
That’s why the Tigers placed No. 2 in Sporting News’ rankings, which uses a formula that awards points to teams based on a combined criteria that include national championships, championship game appearances, semifinal appearances, New Year’s Six appearances and NFL Draft selections, among others.
Clemson edged out both Ohio State and Georgia, a two-time, back-to-back national champion in 2021-22, for the second spot. The Tigers had 56 players selected in the NFL Draft during the four-team playoff era between 2015-2024. They appeared in four national championship games and made a combined seven appearances between the CFP and New Year’s Six.
Per Sporting News:
“Ohio State and Georgia have a strong argument here, but the Tigers were a two-time national champion like the Bulldogs and have four CFP championship game appearances. Maybe some of that was built on the ACC schedule. Clemson produced 55 NFL Draft picks in this stretch and nine consensus All-Americans. Still not convinced? The Bulldogs were not the powerhouse they are now at the beginning of the CFP era, and Clemson was 2-1 against Ohio State in CFP semifinals. This might change in the 12-team CFP era, but Dabo Swinney did his part to keep the Tigers elite over the last 10 seasons. Clemson is 30-10 the last three years – and the new format will make them a playoff regular again.”
In an ironic twist, Clemson has Alabama to thank in large part for the Tigers’ spot in these rankings; the Crimson Tide defeated Georgia in the SEC Championship Game last year to end the Bulldogs’ chance at the first-ever three-peat in the modern history of college football.
Clemson will meet Georgia to open the 2024 season at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, August 31. Kickoff times have yet to be announced for the 2024 season, but the Tigers-Bulldogs tilt will be one of the most anticipated mathups of Week 1.
