Clemson Tigers Have Multiple Games with College Football Playoff Implications

The Clemson Tigers are going to play a major role in the College Football Playoff and how the seeding will shake out.

Oct 28, 2023; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Clemson Tigers running back Phil Mafah (7) runs the ball during the second half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Carter-Finley Stadium. / Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

There is no doubt that the Clemson Tigers are one of the 25 best college football teams in the country. They are going to begin the 2024 season with a ranking, but are they legitimate contenders for a spot in the College Football Playoff?

Oddsmakers believe they are right on the cusp, putting them somewhere around the 15th-best odds to win the title. If they are able to make the 12-team field, they will have certainly earned it based on the gauntlet of a schedule they will be facing.

Clemson gets things started with a bang when they play against Georgia in Atlanta for their season opener. Appalachian State, The Citadel and South Carolina make up the rest of their non-conference schedule throughout the season.

Mixed in during ACC play are matchups that will have major implications on the College Football Playoff.

The conference has several teams who believe they are good enough to make a run for a spot in the playoffs, but will they cannibalize each other, leaving the conference champion as the lone representative?

Over at Yardbarker, Zach Wadley put together a piece highlighting one game every week of the upcoming season that will have the most impact on the College Football Playoff. Two of those matchups involve the Tigers.

Surprisingly, their opener against Georgia didn’t make the list. The first game Wadley picked involving Clemson comes in Week 4 when they host NC State.

“N.C. State, a dark-horse contender to win the ACC, doesn't play Florida State or Miami, so this game has major implications for the Wolfpack. N.C. State has won at least eight games in six of the past seven seasons and defeated Clemson last year. For Clemson, the pressure is on HC Dabo Swinney to regain the program's form of 2015-19, when it won 14, 14, 12, 15 and 14 games and two national titles. QB Cade Klubnik and the Tigers must overcome a tough N.C. State defense,” Wadley wrote.

Clemson is also fortunate enough to avoid having to play Miami this season but they do have to face off against Florida State on the road in Tallahassee.

They are scheduled to play in Week 6, which is the second time the Tigers are featured in on Wadley’s list.

“The top two teams in the ACC will square off in Tallahassee. Conference divisions are a thing of the past, so these two could play again in the conference championship game. The winner will most likely be favored to get the automatic bid and bye,” he wrote.

Clemson, NC State, Florida State and Miami are considered the favorites to win the ACC this season. If the Tigers can split those games against the Wolfpack and Seminoles, they set themselves up well to make an appearance in the ACC Championship Game.