The Biggest Game On The Clemson Schedule
Clemson heads into the 2020 season with NFL talent spread out all across the field, and on both sides of the ball. For that reason, the Tigers are considered one of the favorites to win a third national title in five seasons.
The gap between the Tigers and the rest of the ACC seems to widen with each passing season, and that has led to more criticism about the ease of their path to the College Football Playoff.
There are teams in the ACC that are making strides in their efforts to close that gap though. Louisville, who is heading into their second season under Scott Satterfield, is one of those teams.
The Cardinals were much improved in year one under Satterfield and look to take another big step in 2020. ESPN's David Hale goes as far as saying the Tigers' matchup with Louisville in Death Valley on Sept. 12 is the team's biggest game of the season.
"Like last season, Clemson's path to an ACC title isn't particularly difficult, but the biggest challenge should come early with a home date against Louisville. The Cardinals revived the program in coach Scott Satterfield's first season in 2019, and while the final score wasn't all that close, they did give Clemson one of its tougher games. With a tumultuous offseason around the country, September could certainly come with a few upsets, so it might be to Louisville's advantage to get the Tigers in Week 2, before Dabo Swinney & Co. really get rolling."
-- David M. Hale
Clemson hasn't lost to an ACC team since October of 2017, but if there is a conference opponent on the schedule that could pull a potential upset, it is the Cardinals.
Clemson did defeat the Cardinals 45-10 last season in Cardinal Stadium, but the game was more competitive than the final score would indicate. It wasn't until late in the third quarter before the Tigers really started to pull away.
There is no denying the fact that the Cardinals have improved, but so have the Tigers. Clemson is 6-0 all-time against Louisville and has outscored them 122-26 over the past two seasons combined.
The Cardinals are likely to be a fringe Top-25 team coming into the season, but Clemson also has a late-season matchup on the road against Notre Dame. The Irish are a legitimate top-10 team, and the argument can be made that is the bigger game.
However, if the Tigers are to make a sixth consecutive playoff appearance, they are much more likely to overcome a loss to a top-10 team on the road than they are a loss at home to Louisville. No matter how much improved the Cardinals are, it's possible that a loss at home to them would be much harder to recover from.
