Dabo Swinney pulling for Florida State over Alabama in Chick-Fil-A Kickoff
By John Buhler
Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney won’t root for his alma mater Alabama Crimson Tide in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff. He likes the Florida State Seminoles.
2017 ACC Media Days began on Thursday in Charlotte. While this media conference between the college football media and the ACC football coaches isn’t the draw of SEC Media Days down in Alabama, Thursday delivered a great quote from Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney.
The head coach of the defending national champion Tigers was asked who he would root for in the 2017 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta between his alma mater Alabama Crimson Tide or Clemson’s main ACC rival in the Florida State Seminoles.
Swinney kept it really simple and looked out for Clemson football’s best interest with this response, “I’m pulling for the ‘Noles.” At first, the Clemson faithful may hate this because Florida State is the biggest threat in the ACC Atlantic for the Tigers annually. However, it better serves Clemson to face a Florida State team without an Alabama loss on their resume.
Dabo Swinney on if he's pulling for his alma mater Alabama or conference foe FSU in the opener "I'm pulling for the Noles."
— Matt Connolly (@MattConnollyOn3) July 13, 2017
Do keep in mind that Swinney has had to play his alma mater in the last two national championships. While the Tigers lost to the Crimson Tide in 2015, they won their first national title since 1981 last year. So Swinney has no problem rooting against the Crimson Tide in certain instances. It’s not like they did win enough already.
That being said, what would it take for Clemson and Florida State to meet each other undefeated this season? Florida State would have to be 10-0 before making the trek to Death Valley on November 11. The Seminoles will have played all ACC rivals sans Clemson plus the Crimson Tide on a neutral site. It’s possible, but there’s bound to be a loss somewhere on that slate. They have to play Alabama, Louisville, Miami and North Carolina State before meeting Clemson on their turf.
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As for the Tigers, they are in the same predicament. Florida State will be their last ACC game of the year. The Tigers will have played an ACC schedule that includes Virginia Tech this year and Auburn at home. Both teams meeting each other in Clemson unscathed on November 11 probably isn’t happening. If it does, expect ESPN’s College GameDay to be there.