Clemson Does Not Deserve to Be in the Playoff
The Clemson Tigers do not deserve to be in the 2019 College Football Playoff according to many of the "experts" around the country.
I mean, they play in the worst league in the nation, have the worst schedule in the nation and have offensive issues that mean they cannot possibly hang with the likes of Oklahoma, Ohio State, LSU or Alabama.
"I have to move them. I had Clemson at No. 2 for a while, I know have them outside of my top four," Jesse Palmer said. "I am officially worried now about Trevor Lawrence and these interceptions. He has 8 on the season, careless mistakes he wasn't making a year ago. Mistakes that the other quarterbacks in my top five are not making. It may not cost him against a team like Louisville, but it will cost them down the road."
Palmer is not the only one either:
"Clemson is clearly not one of the top four teams," ESPN analyst Matt Schick said. "They're just not playing like that, even in the win. Watch that Louisville game -- just something off. And Trevor Lawrence, another pick, taking risks ... And even Dabo Swinney said he made three or four bad decisions yesterday. There's something a little off with Clemson, and eventually, they're going to get bit. I just don't know if it's going to happen in the regular season."
"If you have them in the top four as the No. 1 team, you're either doing it because you're an old school, hey they won the national championship, I'm going to put them No. 1 and dig my heels in until someone knocks them off," Schick continued. "Or you're doing it because of what they could be and the potential that they have of what their ceiling could be. It's not because of anything you've seen.
"But the conversation about Clemson is, they're not one of the four best right now, but they're going to make the playoff. And that is such an interesting conversation, and it's true because if you run the table and you win out and you're an undefeated Power Five conference champ, you're going to get into the playoff. The committee would never have the stomach to exclude a team like that, especially a team that's won a couple national championships in the last few years."
And their defense–don't even get me started on the defense. Did you not hear that the 2019 Tigers lost four starters, five members, of their defensive line to the NFL Draft last season.
So, let's start with the strength of schedule.
The Tigers dropped in the last three weeks from No. 1 in the AP Poll to No. 4, while the Alabama Crimson Tide have moved back into the all familiar No. 1 spot.
However, if people want to punish the Tigers for their schedule, the Crimson Tide should be buried.
The Tigers currently have the 40th toughest schedule with an opponents winning percentage of 49.27. While the Tide have played the 86th ranked schedule with an opponents winning percentage of 43.19.
The Tigers and the Tide have also played the same number of ranked teams–zero.
The Tide own the scoring margin stat line—32.39 TO 28—which makes sense seeing as they have played a schedule that is significantly easier than the one the Tigers have played.
Ohio State and LSU both rank inside the top 10 in strength of schedule at No. 4 and No. 10 respectively. The fourth team that the Tigers cannot hang with, the Oklahoma Sooners, boast an impressive strength of schedule that keeps them just inside the top 85 at No. 82.
When it comes to offense the four teams mentioned above all rank in the top 4 in scoring offense. Oklahoma, LSU, Ohio State and Alabama all boast dynamic offense, with one caveat for two of those teams, Alabama and Oklahoma have played two of the easiest schedules in the nation.
While playing a significantly more difficult schedule the Tigers still rank 10th in scoring offense, 10th in total offense, 10th in rushing offense—better than LSU (79th) and Alabama (68th).
But the Tiger defense, how do they expect to stop these high powered offensive juggarnauts?
Yes, the Tigers did lose a lot of talented pieces off of last year's team. But they also had a lot of talent waiting in the wings.
The Tigers' defense ranks fifth in the nation in total defense, only Ohio State ranks better at No. 2. LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma all rank outside of the top 20 in total defense at No. 24, 26 and 28 respectively.
The Tigers also rank eighth in scoring defense, only Ohio State ranking better at No. 2. Alabama ranks 13th, Oklahoma ranks 22nd and LSU 26th.
I know what you are thinking, but Alabama plays in the SEC.
Yes, they do. But just because a league has an elite team, or two, does not mean that the entire league is elite—it simply means that you have a an elite team, or two.
Which may be why the people who make a living playing the odds have the most undeserving team in the nation winning the entire thing for a second straight season.
2020 NCAA Championship - Odds to Win
]10/14/19 Current (10/21/19)
Clemson 5/2 5/2
Alabama 5/2 3/1
LSU 11/2 9/2
Ohio State 5/1 5/1
Oklahoma 6/1 6/1
Georgia 14/1 14/1
Penn State 25/1 20/1
Oregon 50/1 33/1
Auburn 40/1 50/1
Florida 50/1 50/1
Notre Dame 40/1 50/1
Utah 40/1 50/1
Wisconsin 14/1 50/1
Baylor 66/1 66/1
Minnesota 150/1 100/1
SMU 150/1 150/1
Texas 150/1 150/1
Iowa 250/1 250/1
Appalachian State 500/1 500/1
Cincinnati 500/1 500/1
