CFP Chairman Breaks Down Where Clemson Tigers Could Place With ACC Title Win

Where will the Clemson Tigers land in the CFP Rankings if they win the ACC Title?

Nov 16, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney (right) reacts to side judge Rick Santilli on the sidelines against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers are heading into the ACC Championship Game against the SMU Mustangs with a spot in the College Football Playoff on the line. 

In addition to the ACC Title being on the line Saturday night, the Tigers will also be playing for an automatic spot in the CFP. Clemson needed a little bit of luck to get to this position, but they now control their own destiny toward getting into the CFP. 

It will surely be a lot of fun on Saturday night, as this matchup could be a high-scoring affair. However, with a lot of things on the line for both teams, what will happen in terms of ranking for the winner of the game has yet to be decided. 

Recently, CFP Chairman Warde Manuel recently spoke about where Clemson might be positioned in the CFP if they win against the Mustangs and get the automatic bid into the playoffs. 

“There was a lot of conversation between those teams and how we ranked them, a lot of back and forth and a lot of discussion,” Ward said to Will Vandervort of the Clemson Insider. “Obviously they’re in the championship game, and should they win, they’ll earn — should earn an automatic berth into the playoffs. What I can’t do is tell you where they’ll be ranked if that happens and they beat SMU. I can’t get into, sort of, evaluating what could happen. We just try to stay in the present and not look to the future as we evaluate what each team has done during the season, and we look forward to watching Clemson and SMU play on the field, and then we’ll evaluate both teams once that game is done.”

While winning the game is obviously going to be the most important thing to start for the Tigers, where they could potentially fall in the CFP rankings, will be important as well after the fact. 

On Friday night, the Boise State Broncos will be playing the UNLV Rebels for their conference championship. A win by the Broncos would secure them a spot in the Top-4 of the CFP with a bye week. 

However, where things get interesting is between the battle between Clemson and the winner of the Big-12 Championship. Depending on how the game goes, it will likely decide who gets the next spot, assuming a Broncos victory. 

Even though the season is almost over, there is still a lot of moving parts in the CFP rankings that will need to be decided on Friday and Saturday. For Clemson, they have to like their chances to get a bye if they win the ACC.