College Football Playoff Rankings: Why Clemson should be No. 1

All of college football’s undefeated teams make a strong case for No. 1 in the College Football Playoff, but Clemson makes the best case out of all of them.

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In its inaugural year, the College Football Playoff hosted four superb teams and was relatively well-received by the college football community. The main criticism the committee experienced involved those that didn’t make it into the final four, specifically the shut out of the Big 12’s Baylor and TCU from the playoff.

This year, the committee’s sophomore season is looking to be a lot tougher, with even more talented teams bidding for the top four spots. To put it plainly, there are a lot of powerful teams this year. At this point last season there were only two undefeated teams in the FBS (Florida State, Mississippi State, and Marshall).

This season, there are 11, with eight of them in Power 5 conferences. No season during the entire BCS era saw this many undefeated teams at Week 10.

This year’s group of unbeaten teams is a dominant bunch, and the competition up front is tight, with Ohio State, Clemson, LSU, Baylor, and TCU fighting for the top spot in this season’s first College Football Playoff Rankings. Many say that Ohio State or LSU deserve to be No. 1. But at this point, the Clemson Tigers are my clear pick for first in the rankings, and in the following paragraphs I’ll tell you why.

First off, if we go off what the College Football Playoff committee considers when deciding their rankings, then Clemson fits the bill. The committee bases their rankings on several factors. The most pertinent aspect that goes into their decision is a team’s strength of schedule, followed by conference championships, team records, and head-to-head results, with smaller things such as injuries and weather coming into play.

They’re all pretty much on an equal plane right now as far conference and team records go, and obviously none of them have played each other yet. It really comes down to strength of schedule. Taking a look at three popular SOS metrics from ESPN, Sagarin, and TeamRankings.com, Clemson is ranked first among the top five undefeated teams on all three sites in strength of schedule.

Considering their schedules so far, this ranking makes sense, and I would say that Clemson currently has the strongest resume of the top five. The Tigers already have a win over a current top 10 team (Notre Dame) and over five conference opponents, making for a comparatively impressive resume. The only other top-five team with a proportionate quality win is LSU’s victory over Florida.

The rest of LSU’s schedule in comparison to Clemson is relatively weaker, consisting of three wins over conference opponents in the bottom half their divisions, a close win over Syracuse, and two wins over mediocre Group of Five teams (Western Kentucky and Eastern Michigan).

Now, Clemson may technically align with the top spot as far as the committee’s considerations, but what about the true strength of the team as a whole? Are the Tigers really as good of a team as Ohio State or LSU? Not only would I say yes to this, but I take it further and say that Clemson is the strongest and most complete team in the top five, and even in the nation. Their dominance is present in every part of their team, on both sides of the ball.

The Tigers defense is arguably the best in the nation, and looking at the stats reveals how powerful their D truly is. They’ve held opponents to a measly 87.5 rushing yards per game and 169 passing yards per game, which is eighth and ninth among all Power 5 teams, respectively. That stat alone is mind-boggling.

It gets even more so when you consider how clutch they’ve been, allowing opponents to convert on only 21.19% of their third downs, a national best. Their defensive line has been particularly disruptive, breaking through offensive lines for 24 sacks and 72 tackles for a loss. Besides showing how filthy the Tigers defense has been, these stats are also notable for the fact that Clemson is leading the nation’s top five teams in all of the ones.

But that’s not all. The Tigers also have a top offense, led by star quarterback Deshaun Watson. Watson has been impressing all year, and only seems to be getting better. Watson and the offense put on some show last weekend when he threw five touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown, accumulating a total of 383 offensive yards and a stunning 238.91 QB rating as he led the Tigers over N.C. State and their upset attempt.

But this is just one example of how good Watson has been. He’s in the nation’s top 10 in quarterback rating (168.33), completion percentage (70.3 percent), and touchdown passes (20). He’s talented when passing and running, but his most important attributes are his highly-skilled decision-making and accuracy. All together, he makes for force to reckon with on the field.

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Watson is great, but he also has a lot of talent to work with. Running back Wayne Gallman is top-notch, contributing 109.25 yards per game on the ground, second in the conference. Their receiving core is also powerful, featuring a large cast of young talent. Six Tiger receivers have over 200 yards this season, which is really telling of their depth. Together they form a formidable force for any defense.

To bring it all together, the Clemson Tigers should be no. 1 because they are just the best team, plain and simple. The evidence for their ability and talent as a whole is overwhelming. Sure, the other candidates have their strengths, but there’s simply no other team that’s as strong and complete as a unit then Clemson. When it comes down to it, the Tigers deserve that top spot.

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