Déjà vu? A week after South Florida walked it off in Gainesville to knock off then No. 13 ranked Florida in The Swamp, Georgia Tech pulled off the ultimate walk-off field goal with the fire drill set up for a 55-yard kick to knock off No. 12 Clemson at home. With the win, Georgia Tech proved the one thing we saw last week: Clemson is fraudulent.
Georgia Tech, while not looking great after jumping out to a 13-0 lead, managed to hold off Clemson’s comeback attempt and win it as time expired. The loss makes Clemson’s College Football Playoff hopes nearly snatched out of their hands. It’s the type of loss that will pretty much force them into an uphill battle the rest of the way.
Their only ranked game left is against South Carolina, which is at the end of the season. This is now the second-straight week a top 15 team lost to an unranked team. Speaking of, Auburn, which debuted in the AP top 25 poll this week, narrowly escaped a bad loss to South Alabama.
Here’s a look at the projected rankings after yet another top 15 team was stunned by an unranked team, this time Clemson losing in its ACC opener.
Projected rankings after Clemson gets handed loss to unranked Georgia Tech
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- LSU Tigers
- Oregon Ducks
- Miami Hurricanes
- Texas Longhorns
- Florida State Seminoles
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Utah Utes
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Michigan Wolverines
- Auburn Tigers
- Missouri Tigers
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- USF Bulls
- Baylor Bears
Yep, you guessed it, Clemson gets knocked out of the top 25 poll after its second loss of the season. The loss to LSU was acceptable, but a loss to Georgia Tech means the Tigers probably won’t get into the CFP. They’d not only need to win out but win the ACC title game and hope no Group of 5 team is ranked higher to get in. These Tigers aren’t the same resilient ones from last year.
Georgia Tech makes AP Top 25 debut after big win over Clemson
Georgia Tech received the third most votes (78) last week of teams on the bubble of cracking the top 25 poll. They should have no problem getting in this week after a walk-off field goal at home in their ACC opening win over Clemson. They survived a comeback effort after they saw their 13-point lead turn into a 14-13 deficit.
Last year, they stunned Florida State and spent one week ranked before a loss to Syracuse killed their CFP hopes. This year, they should be a team that stays ranked for longer than one week. As of now, their only other ranked game is against Georgia in the final game of the year. If they win out, not only will they be undefeated going into the game against Georgia, but they’ll have a shot to get in as a conference champion.
Clemson becomes second-straight top 15 team to get knocked out of top 25 poll
Clemson fans might as well say good riddance to their College Football Playoff hopes after the loss to Georgia Tech. Not only will they not be ranked after this weekend, but they won’t really have any chances to get ranked again, let alone high enough in the rankings. Their best shot is South Carolina wins out and the Tigers pull off the upset. Even then, they have to hope there aren’t multiple undefeated ACC teams.
The Tigers’ were destined to lose again, it was simply a matter of when. The Tigers struggled against Troy last week and didn’t look good against LSU in the first game of the season. This game was proof this Clemson team isn’t as scary as their No. 3 preseason ranking suggested. We were all wrong and now they might not even make the CFP.