Clemson Football: Ranking Tigers’ 2020 opponents by toughness

If there’s one team on the schedule that could give Clemson a run for its money in the ACC next season, it would have to be Louisville.

The Cardinals have gone from underwhelming in 2018 to firing Bobby Petrino and hiring Scott Satterfield who exceeded everyone’s expectations with an 8-5 campaign. Who could have seen that coming in his first year after a 2-10 season for the Cardinals in 2018? No one.

Micale Cunningham will be one of the conference’s best quarterbacks and Louisville has a plethora of offensive weapons. This game will be close, but I see Clemson pulling it out because of the home-field advantage. If this was in Louisville, we might be talking upset.

This is the game that might decide Clemson’s fate in the College Football Playoff race. If the Irish can beat Notre Dame on the road, there’s a good chance the Tigers will finish the season undefeated and we’ll have to wait until Nov. 7 to see this one play out.

Ian Book is back under center for the Irish and he’ll have a new offensive coordinator calling the plays in former quarterback in Tommy Rees. This could help the offense tremendously.

Notre Dame already has an elite defense and the offense just needs to catch up. This could be a battle for a playoff spot.