ESPN analyst sees Clemson vs. Alabama in College Football Playoff

With three days remaining until the 2024 season kicks off, it’s a popular time of year for various analysts to make bowl game and 12-team College Football Playoff predictions for the year ahead.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura are the latest to unveil their projections ($) for the upcoming playoff and bowl season.

For his part, Bonagura sees Clemson grabbing an at-large bid and taking on Alabama in the first round of the playoff in a No. 11 vs. No. 6 seed matchup at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. First-round playoff games will be held on-campus beginning this year.

Bonagura has Alabama beating Clemson to advance to the Fiesta Bowl to face Big 12 champion Utah in the quarterfinals. Arizona was his dark horse team to reach the playoff as the No. 10 seed.

Per Bonagura:

“In the transfer portal era, preseason projections in college football are becoming even more of a crapshoot than they already were. These will be comical to look back at in December. There shouldn’t be any major surprises here, it’s mostly the usual suspects. Arizona is the team that, by reputation, doesn’t belong, but the Wildcats have most of their key pieces coming back from a team that finished on a seven-game winning streak and was No. 11 in the final AP poll. This wasn’t by design, but my first-round projections have a regional feel to them, which would be a nice way to usher in the expanded playoff.”

Clemson and Alabama met four times in the four-team CFP with the Tigers winning two national championships against the Crimson Tide. Dabo Swinney, who played for Alabama from 1989-1992, has never coached against his alma mater in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Schlabach was less optimistic about the Tigers’ ceiling in 2024 and projected Clemson to meet Oklahoma State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando (Dec. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET). Both Schlabach and Bonagura project Georgia to face Ohio State in the CFP National Championship, Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

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The first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff is scheduled for Dec. 20-21. ABC/ESPN and TNT Sports will televise first-round games with quarterfinals and semifinal games moving to ESPN.

Clemson opens the 2024 season against Georgia on Aug. 31 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon ET. The game will be televised nationally on ABC.

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