Clemson...The new Bama?

Bless Em All

Bless Em All

Well-known member
Clemson has been on a run that is only rivaled by Alabama and with their blowout of the Tide likely places them at the top of the College Football hill.
Currently #1 in the recruiting race, the Tigers seem to be building a monolith in S Carolina that could easily win the NT this year with little competition.
Alabama is still there but last years National Title game proved that the Tigers are a juggernaut.
They have to be considered the #1 team coming into 2019. Who is going to push them this year? Bama, Ohio State, Georgia?
Thoughts?
 
 
BlessEmAll said:
Clemson has been on a run that is only rivaled by Alabama and with their blowout of the Tide likely places them at the top of the College Football hill.
Currently #1 in the recruiting race, the Tigers seem to be building a monolith in S Carolina that could easily win the NT this year with little competition.
Alabama is still there but last years National Title game proved that the Tigers are a juggernaut.
They have to be considered the #1 team coming into 2019. Who is going to push them this year? Bama, Ohio State, Georgia?
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Having won 2 of the last 3 National Championships on the field you would have to say that Clemson is the best team in college football right now. What's intriguing is that Clemson may have gotten there by doing some little things differently & better then Alabama:

* By all accounts Clemson has a more relaxed atmosphere then Bama. That is Dabo, to a far greater extent then Saban, understands that there's more to life then football. For certain types of coaches & players this is an environment they can thrive in.

* Clemson makes a big deal about walk on's receiving scholarships. It's not just about the latest 5 star recruit. I remember watching a YouTube video of a scrawny kid who was a walk on getting awarded a scholarship after a great summer camp. The vibe was beyond positive as the whole team celebrated this kids accomplishment. Two years later the kid (Renfro) catches the game winning TD against Bama in the national championship.

Sometimes you create good karma for your program by your actions.
 
BlessEmAll said:
Clemson has been on a run that is only rivaled by Alabama and with their blowout of the Tide likely places them at the top of the College Football hill.
Currently #1 in the recruiting race, the Tigers seem to be building a monolith in S Carolina that could easily win the NT this year with little competition.
Alabama is still there but last years National Title game proved that the Tigers are a juggernaut.
They have to be considered the #1 team coming into 2019. Who is going to push them this year? Bama, Ohio State, Georgia?
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

As far as who is going to push Clemson this year I don't see anyone in their conference that can do it which leaves the playoff teams.

Obviously Bama is always there. But my dark horse team for this year is LSU. If they're as good as I think they'll be and Burrow emerges as a top college QB (which I think he will) this may be the one team that can match up with Clemson.
 
lotr10 said:
As far as who is going to push Clemson this year I don't see anyone in their conference that can do it which leaves the playoff teams.

Obviously Bama is always there. But my dark horse team for this year is LSU. If they're as good as I think they'll be and Burrow emerges as a top college QB (which I think he will) this may be the one team that can match up with Clemson.
Click to expand...

LSU always has tons of individual talent. However, they need to get past Bama and they haven’t been able to do that.

My dark horse is Texas. I like the momentum they’ve got coming into this Yr and Ehlinger finally looks confident being the starting QB.

If I had to pick my playoff teams it would be: Clemson, Bama, Texas, and Georgia.
 
Omar said:
LSU always has tons of individual talent. However, they need to get past Bama and they haven’t been able to do that.

My dark horse is Texas. I like the momentum they’ve got coming into this Yr and Ehlinger finally looks confident being the starting QB.

If I had to pick my playoff teams it would be: Clemson, Bama, Texas, and Georgia.
Click to expand...

LSU vs Texas will be huge. Both should be top 5 teams. Be a huge game for Burrow
 
Rooting for Burrow as a Buckeye fan. I would love to see LSU or Florida back in the mix. I like the chances that LSU has vs. Bama.
Clemson is a man on an island in the ACC. Ohio State will be there if they can stick together and not have a letdown (Purdue, Iowa).
I think they are my dark horse citing first year coach, loss of Qb, key O and D talent. But they cupboards are loaded.
Another one waiting in the wings is Texas and maybe even Oregon.
My pick for playoffs is;
Clemson, Florida, OSU, Texas. Yes I am leaving Bama and Georgia out of the mix. I feel that the two will stumble vs. Florida and LSU. You might put LSU in place of OSU.
I just get a feeling about this years Buckeye team. Similar to 2012.
 
Next to zero chance Florida gets in over LSU, Alabama or Georgia. They have good offensive skill positions but replace nearly their entire offensive line and Franks, IMO, is just an average QB. Their defense should be pretty good again but lose arguably their 2 best players. They play Miami in neutral Orlando, at Kentucky, at LSU, at Missouri, at South Carolina and have to host Auburn from the West. I think Florida hits 10 wins but doubt they get close to the SEC championship, let alone a playoff appearance.
 
Same was said about OSU in 2014 and 2002. I just feel after that beat down they gave SCum last year they are on the verge of something special. Granted LSU is very good. Missouri and KY aren't big hurdles to me.
 
BlessEmAll said:
Same was said about OSU in 2014 and 2002. I just feel after that beat down they gave SCum last year they are on the verge of something special. Granted LSU is very good. Missouri and KY aren't big hurdles to me.
Click to expand...

I bet you didn’t think Purdue was a major hurdle last yr. i’ll say, I don’t get the Michigan hype outside of Shea Patterson. They lost almost everyone on that Defense.
 
What Dabo has built is impressive and it’s hard for me not to root for the guy. He seems like he’d be a heck of a coach to get to play for. But Bama coming off that beat down and Tua being healthy makes them very dangerous. They seem to always do well with the revenge factor. They also don’t have the whole offseason fiasco to deal with like last year with the Tua/Hurts competition.
 
The public is usually pretty bad at picking favorites. Will Clemson's defensive line be elite after their losses to graduation and the draft
 
Arrogate said:
The public is usually pretty bad at picking favorites. Will Clemson's defensive line be elite after their losses to graduation and the draft
Click to expand...

It’s going to be the Offense that carries them. That 3-headed monster of Lawrence, Ross, and Etiene will rack up huge points.
 
BlessEmAll said:
Same was said about OSU in 2014 and 2002. I just feel after that beat down they gave SCum last year they are on the verge of something special. Granted LSU is very good. Missouri and KY aren't big hurdles to me.
Click to expand...

You point to Florida beating Michigan, who had about 1/4 of their starters out, as your reason for them breaking out yet ignore the fact that Missouri and KY both beat Florida last year ?
 
Arrogate said:
The public is usually pretty bad at picking favorites. Will Clemson's defensive line be elite after their losses to graduation and the draft
Click to expand...

Not to mention losing their LBers but one. One guy returns from that front 7. They have talent waiting in the wings but still, tough to pull off.

Bama started last season #1 and almost ran the table. You could make a case for Bama being the best team each season going back 10 years. Allowing Clemson to ride the season with a bullseye on their back should help Bama. Not to mention this is the most returning starters the Crimson Tide have brought back in the last 3 seasons. They are always loaded but this year a tad more.

Clemson's only saving grace is aside from playing an overrated A&M early the ACC is awful. Maybe Dino Baber's Orange will nab em again this season at home?
 
I think Ohio State rolls again this year. All this talk of Michigan is propaganda just to keep the midwest relevant. The only knock I have on Clemson is the same one I have on Ohio State every year. You don't know how good they are until the end of the season because their respective conferences are so bad. At least with Bama and the rest of the SEC, you know who's good. They are all battle tested because they beat up on each other. Ohio State and Clemson only has to get up for one or two games a season, that's a big advantage. Now kuddos to Clemson, as they just obliterated Bama last year. Clemson was clearly the best team in the country last season.
 
Red14 said:
I think Ohio State rolls again this year. All this talk of Michigan is propaganda just to keep the midwest relevant. The only knock I have on Clemson is the same one I have on Ohio State every year. You don't know how good they are until the end of the season because their respective conferences are so bad. At least with Bama and the rest of the SEC, you know who's good. They are all battle tested because they beat up on each other. Ohio State and Clemson only has to get up for one or two games a season, that's a big advantage. Now kuddos to Clemson, as they just obliterated Bama last year. Clemson was clearly the best team in the country last season.
Click to expand...
LOL the SEC isn't that good, and hasn't been that good. It is nothing but polling bias that makes people think they are so good and beating up on each other.
 
Hammerdrill said:
LOL the SEC isn't that good, and hasn't been that good. It is nothing but polling bias that makes people think they are so good and beating up on each other.
Click to expand...
Not quite. The SEC generally does better in bigger games, bowl games and the real kicker is they send the most players to the NFL. It gets really tiring every year to have to continue to point out to big ten fans how bad the league is. Ohio State is the only team that could survive in the SEC, and that was pretty much after Urban came. Ohio State plays one or two big games a year, and they are favored, mostly heavy favorites in all of their games, home and road. The SEC is good because of the reasons listed above, it's not polling bias. At least before the big ten expanded there was more competition. Adding Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland just weakened the conference, and splitting into two divisions made it worse. Ohio State will probably be 11-1 or 12-0 and we still won't know how good they are.
 
Clemson and Alabama are an interchangeable 1A and 1B. In 2019 everybody else is playing for third place.

I know on most OSU fan sites it is fashionable to trash Dabo and Clemson. Yet Swinney is building a dynasty through great recruiting, player development, and creating a culture of excellence that is centered on the players and not the other way around. That and Clemson offers great academics on a beautiful campus in a scenic location. I know it would never come to pass, but I would take Dabo over Urban Meyer and Ryan Day as OSU head coach.
 
Omega said:
Clemson and Alabama are an interchangeable 1A and 1B. In 2019 everybody else is playing for third place.

I know on most OSU fan sites it is fashionable to trash Dabo and Clemson. Yet Swinney is building a dynasty through great recruiting, player development, and creating a culture of excellence that is centered on the players and not the other way around. That and Clemson offers great academics on a beautiful campus in a scenic location. I know it would never come to pass, but I would take Dabo over Urban Meyer and Ryan Day as OSU head coach.
Click to expand...
I think Dabo's record speaks for itself.
 
Red14 said:
Not quite. The SEC generally does better in bigger games, bowl games and the real kicker is they send the most players to the NFL. It gets really tiring every year to have to continue to point out to big ten fans how bad the league is. Ohio State is the only team that could survive in the SEC, and that was pretty much after Urban came. Ohio State plays one or two big games a year, and they are favored, mostly heavy favorites in all of their games, home and road. The SEC is good because of the reasons listed above, it's not polling bias. At least before the big ten expanded there was more competition. Adding Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland just weakened the conference, and splitting into two divisions made it worse. Ohio State will probably be 11-1 or 12-0 and we still won't know how good they are.
Click to expand...
You are giving the entire league too much credit. Heck LSU sends lots of kids to the NFL, but have not been very good. The polling bias is there if you want to see it. Here is an analysis that supports it http://harvardsportsanalysis.org/2014/10/conference-bias-in-college-football/#comments
 
Last edited:
Red14 said:
Not quite. The SEC generally does better in bigger games, bowl games and the real kicker is they send the most players to the NFL. It gets really tiring every year to have to continue to point out to big ten fans how bad the league is. Ohio State is the only team that could survive in the SEC, and that was pretty much after Urban came. Ohio State plays one or two big games a year, and they are favored, mostly heavy favorites in all of their games, home and road. The SEC is good because of the reasons listed above, it's not polling bias. At least before the big ten expanded there was more competition. Adding Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland just weakened the conference, and splitting into two divisions made it worse. Ohio State will probably be 11-1 or 12-0 and we still won't know how good they are.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. All of these Buckeye homers angling to claim the B10 as the best conference are out of their mind. Ohio St stands on their own vs any program. However, the other upper tier programs haven’t won anything in the last 20 yrs.

The gap is definitely closing, but the non OSU programs need to step up on the big stage.
 
BlessEmAll said:
7 B1G teams in the Top 25 is the most of any conference.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but does anyone really think Nebraska will be there in five weeks? Every conference has the perpetually overrated team, Nebraska is definitely it for the Big 10.
 
Gh0st said:
Yeah, but does anyone really think Nebraska will be there in five weeks? Every conference has the perpetually overrated team, Nebraska is definitely it for the Big 10.
Click to expand...

Yes. They are favored in their first four games. As long as they don't lose by 50+, losing to OSU won't knock them out of the top 25 after going 4-1.
 
BlessEmAll said:
7 B1G teams in the Top 25 is the most of any conference.
Click to expand...

There’s a lot of very good teams, but not as many high quality as the SEC. Doesn’t the SEC have 4 teams in the Top 10? I think that’s more impressive than 7 in the Top 25, especially when a few of those teams are borderline top 25
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top