Can Clemson make the Playoff?
Without a doubt, the defending national champion Tigers have as good a shot as anybody not named Alabama of making the College Football Playoff. They are 7-1 with quality wins over Auburn, Virginia Tech and Louisville, and would have come out of the ACC if they are to remain at contender.
You have to throw out the wins over Kent State and The Citadel – assuming the latter of which happens – when looking at the body of work by the Tigers. Without that, they also scored wins over league foes Boston College, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech to go with the three wins over teams ranked at the time of the contest.
Plus, everybody likes to see the defending champion get a shot at doing just that and defending their title. Clemson has advanced to the last two national championship games, defeating Alabama once and falling by five in the other.
Last year, the committee still valued the overall body of work the Tigers had despite a loss at home to Pittsburgh. There is no reason to think they would penalize them for losing on the road to a conference opponent in a game where they lost their starting quarterback and missed several field goals.
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With winnable games remaining in the regular season, and a likely coin-flip contest in the ACC title game left, we’ll give Clemson a 75 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff.