Clemson is the most disrespected undefeated reigning national champion ever

It’s rare to see an undefeated reigning national champion overlooked as much as the Clemson Tigers have been slighted this year. Dabo Swinney was right.

Here is an interesting statistic: the last time the Clemson Tigers lost, Tua Tagavailoa was backing up Jalen Hurts.

Not enough? Here’s another one: Joe Burrow had yet to take a snap at LSU.

Still unimpressed? Fine. The last time Clemson lost a football game, Alaska and Hawaii weren’t yet states.

Okay. That last part wasn’t true, but the fact that this team, the reigning national champions, are being slept-on and beneficiaries because of a weak schedule is a farce.

Let’s divorce ourselves from the fact Clemson are undefeated ACC champions again after their 62-17 win over Virginia, and just look at the bodies lining up on the field.

If you knew that the first team to go 15-0 in a season returned its starting quarterback with an arm as golden as his flowing locks, an all-world halfback, four of five starting offensive linemen, and a receiving unit worthy of the moniker “Wide Receiver U”, would you think that team had anything to prove on offense?

What if you then found out that the team was better on defense than the year before. In fact, that defense was the best in the country. Would you think that team has absolutely anything to prove?

Now add in the fact that Clemson has won 29 straight games in a Power Five conference. Not the AAC but the ACC. (Aside: do you think that the AAC is a better conference than the ACC? Go ahead and ask Mike Norvell what he thinks.) With wins against Texas A&M and South Carolina of the mighty SEC out of conference. What in the world would you like Clemson to do?

When most teams lay an egg on the road (or at home, Georgia) they pick up a tick in the L column. Clemson didn’t. They held UNC on a two-point conversion. And somehow that counts as a pseudo loss. The world still has an “I’ll believe it when I see it” attitude when it comes to the Tigers. Why? What else is left to see?

Trevor Lawrence hasn’t thrown an interception since before Halloween. Travis Etienne has more than 1,700 yards from scrimmage, including averaging more than eight yards per carry. If a defense manages to shut down Tee Higgins (they won’t), they would still have to answer for Justyn Ross and Amari Rodgers.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Power Rangers are gone, but there’s Isaiah Simmons and K’Von Wallace and a defensive unit built to pressure the quarterback and not miss tackles. Even the weakest link, arguably Tanner Muse, is a monster with more experience than just about any player in college football.

So why is this a team that is overlooked and not a slam dunk to be the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff? They have all of the pieces that they had last year when they beat one of the best Alabama teams in recent memory. They are playing better team defense than last year. Why isn’t winning enough? Clemson is, once again, peaking at the end of the season.

One theory? The Tigers aren’t Alabama and they aren’t Ohio State. That’s the biggest reason. Throughout the season, Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson had similar strengths of schedule. Clemson even had the better quarterback from the state of Georgia. The thing Clemson lacked was name recognition. Ohio State, Alabama, those are already household names. They are supposed to be where Clemson is.

Clemson, however, is less than a decade removed from being a meme. Clemson is less than 15 years removed from Clipboard Jesus. Mostly, what it comes down to are jealousy and hate. But you know what? Keep hating. All that hate is going to keep the Tigers warm through Jan. 13, 2020.

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