Would Clemson Make the CFP at 10-2? ESPN Analyst Weighs In

With two losses, would Clemson still make the 12-team College Football Playoff this season?

An ESPN analyst weighed in on that recently and whether Clemson would need to be worried with “just” 10 wins, or if a 10-2 record would be good enough for the Tigers to earn a berth in the CFP.

Greg McElroy believes that yes, even if the Tigers lost their toughest games vs. Georgia and at Florida State, Dabo Swinney’s team would still get in to the 12-team playoff as an at-large team.

“I look at their schedule. I think it’s extremely difficult,” McElroy said. “You have a non-conference game against the Georgia Bulldogs in Week 1. You go on the road to Florida State. Those are their two toughest games. But in the event in which they lost their two toughest games… they’re still in a really good position to get to the College Football Playoff.

“Why? Because they’re going to have wins against Louisville, they’re going to have a win against NC State, they’re going to have a win on the road at Virginia Tech and they’re going to have a win against South Carolina. So, I think at 10-2, with that schedule – the 26 ^th -toughest schedule in the country — Clemson’s in.”

The Clemson-Georgia season opener is set for Saturday, Aug. 31 in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium (12 p.m., ABC).

The Tigers checked in at No. 14 in the preseason Coaches Poll released this week, with the Bulldogs at No. 1.

The 12-team playoff format is set for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The field will feature the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams, as determined by the CFP Selection Committee.

The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and receive first-round byes, with the fifth highest-ranked conference champion being seeded where it was ranked, or at No. 12 if its final ranking lands outside of the top 12.

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