After winning the National Championship Game on Monday night, Clemson Football will now look forward to a season opener against Kent State.
The win is still fresh and the Gatorade baths are still sending chills down Dabo Swinney’s spine, but it’s already time to start thinking about next season. Yes, that’s the nature of college football. Despite coming up with a big win, the celebration period is so short and coaches are already gearing up for National Signing Day and spring football.
Another elite signing class is in the works for Clemson in 2017 and that means that another national title run is expected. To start the season, though, the Tigers will face off against Kent State and that doesn’t have the biggest appeal for a reigning national champion.
However, the Tigers will play Auburn the following week in Clemson. That game could be a big one as both teams should be ranked high in the AP Poll.
Not many people gave the Tigers a chance to win the title going into the National Championship Game against Alabama, but they shocked the world with a 35-31 victory.
Although this win is huge for Swinney right now, soon he needs to start thinking about who will play quarterback next season with Deshaun Watson going pro. He had a heck of a final game and capped his career with a national title victory over Alabama.
Could we have a new big rivalry in the college football landscape with Alabama and Clemson playing in back-to-back title games? This could be an ongoing showdown as the two teams won’t be absent from the playoff any time soon.
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Clemson will spend the night, and maybe the week, celebrating this huge win, but soon enough the 2017 season will be on the mind and that’s a year without Mike Williams, Watson, Wayne Gallman and many members of the defense.