Opinion: Is Clemson football its own worst enemy?
Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com.
Trey Stewart, Sports Editor
Nestled in the heart of upstate South Carolina, college football in the small town of Clemson is far from just another form of accessible entertainment. For the students of the university and citizens of the town, college football is a lifestyle.
The Clemson Tigers football team, led by head coach Dabo Swinney, has seen remarkable success over the past several years. The program has cemented itself alongside Alabama as one of the two most prominent college football teams of the last decade.
In 2015, the Tigers reached the national championship game for the first time in nearly 35 years. Ever since narrowly falling short against the Alabama Crimson Tide in that matchup, the Tigers haven’t looked back. They captured a historic national championship victory the following year against the same Crimson Tide team, and then won another in 2018, demolishing Alabama by a score of 44-16.
So, for all of the success that the Tigers have had recently, one would likely assume that there was nothing that could get in the Tigers way. Clemson would likely seem to be on the road to success for years and years down the line, and most likely, they are.
However, the biggest foe of Clemson’s dynasty may in fact not be another program. The one aspect of Clemson football that may be hurting them the most is their strength of schedule, or as most analysts would say, lack thereof.
Clemson’s schedule for the 2019 season consists of the usual eight Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, along with four out-of-conference opponents to round out the Tigers’ slate of matchups.
Within the group of ACC opponents that Clemson is scheduled against, only one of them is currently ranked. That team is Wake Forest, and the Tigers are scheduled to face off against them in week 12.
As for the out-of-conference teams, Clemson will, per tradition, play South Carolina to close out the year. Clemson has already played and beaten fellow SEC foe Texas A&M, as well as Charlotte and Wofford, both schools in the lower divisions and conferences of college football.
This brings to the table an interesting and rather unfortunate scenario for the Tigers. While they are the defending national champions and have yet to lose a game this season, they began the year ranked at number one in the polls, and have fallen all the way down to 4, seemingly while doing nothing wrong.
This begs the question: Does strength of schedule matter too much in college football?
The short answer is yes. With a top-tier program like Clemson, each and every week their opponents are jumping at the chance to take a shot at the Tigers. Clemson must show up ready to play week in and week out whether they are facing off against a highly-ranked opponent or a team far below them in talent.
The rankings which have placed Clemson at #4 despite being the defending champions and still undefeated are merely taking into account the opponents Clemson has faced and not the amount of talent on Clemson’s roster.
The Tigers boast an all-star offense with players like quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne, both top ten players in the nation at their respective position. The offense is putting up an average of 44.2 points per game, while the Tigers defense, led by coordinator Brent Venables, is allowing opponents a mild 11.7 points per game on the year.
However, the voters for the college football rankings are actively and blatantly choosing to look past the success and talent of the Tigers roster, and are showing that strength of schedule weighs heavily on their minds when determining the standings.
“They should vote based on how a team plays,” says Grace Lothridge, senior at NGU and lifelong Clemson Tiger fanatic. “How they vote should not be based on the conference they play in, but the way they perform on the field.”
For this Tigers team, a team who has won every game they’ve played by two touchdowns or more except one, the way the voters are dropping them every other week is disastrous. Hopefully, for the sake of college football and Clemson fans everywhere, the Tigers are rightfully back in at least the top two by the end of the season.
