5 reasons Clemson will still make the College Football Playoff
By Connor Learn
3. They should be able to win the ACC
Clemson should be able to travel to Winston-Salem and defeat 6-4 Wake Forest. Coach Dave Clawson has the Demon Deacons program trending in the right direction and they should be able to play a competitive game at home. However, Wake Forest has not defeated an FBS team with a winning record yet this year and they aren’t likely to start with number five ranked Clemson.
If Clemson beats Wake Forest, they will win the Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic division. They’ll finish in a tie with Louisville with 7-1 records in conference but own the tiebreaker due to their head-to-head victory. The ACC plays a championship game between the winners of the Atlantic and Coastal divisions, which should allow Clemson the opportunity to earn another quality victory for their College Football Playoff resume. It’s looking like the Tigers will play either Virginia Tech or North Carolina in the ACC title game.
The Virginia Tech Hokies and North Carolina Tar Heels football programs have had resurgent seasons so far in 2016. North Carolina has had the best offense of the Larry Fedora era and quarterback Mitch Trubisky looks more and more like a high NFL draft pick and best QB in program history with each passing week. Virginia Tech has impressed under first-year head coach Justin Fuente, who is so far succeeding in replacing legendary coach Frank Beamer. But the Hokies recently blew their chance to clinch the ACC Coastal division against an undermanned Georgia Tech squad and demonstrated why Fuente has his work cut out for him if they’re going to be a national power in Blacksburg again.
Clemson will be favored over either Virginia Tech or North Carolina at the neutral site conference title championship game in Orlando, Florida. Neither defense should be able to sufficiently slow down Deshaun Watson and the rest of the Tigers’ offense. They should be able to defeat either team with quality play. If the selection committee really values teams that win their conferences, then Clemson should still feel good about the position that they’re in.