Where Clemson ranks in latest College Football Playoff rankings
CLEMSON — The College Football Playoff committee released its updated playoff rankings Tuesday night.
Clemson is ranked No. 9, moving up one spot from last week.
The Tigers had been ranked No. 10 prior to beating Louisville this past weekend.
Clemson pulled away from the Cardinals to earn a 31-16 win and improve to 9-1 on the year. The Tigers are 7-0 in the ACC and can finish off an undefeated record in league play this weekend against Miami.
The rest of the top 10 consists of No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 TCU, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 USC, No. 8 Alabama and No. 10 Utah.
Clemson has reached the College Football Playoff six of the past seven years, only failing to do so last season during that run.
The Tigers have also won two of the past seven national titles, winning it all in 2016 and 2018.
Dabo Swinney’s team has an outside shot of getting back to the playoff this season if it gets some breaks down the stretch.
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Clemson has work to do and needs some luck after getting blown out at Notre Dame earlier this month.
Still, if the Tigers handle Miami and South Carolina to close the regular season and beat No. 13 North Carolina in the ACC championship game, they could still reach the playoff.
Swinney said earlier this week that losing late in the season could ended up costing Clemson.
“It’s tougher when you lose a game late, but man, it’s hard to be 9-1. How many 9-1 teams are there?” Swinney said. “It’s hard. It’s hard to win. You don’t ever want to lose, but just human nature, when you lose one late, people look at it differently.”
Week 12 CFP Rankings
1. Georgia (10-0)
2. Ohio State (10-0)
3. Michigan (10-0)
4. TCU (10-0)
5. Tennessee (9-1)
6. LSU (8-2)
7. USC (9-1)
8. Alabama (8-2)
9. Clemson (9-1)
10. Utah (8-2)
11. Penn State (8-2)
12. Oregon (8-2)
13. North Carolina (9-1)
14. Ole Miss (8-2)
15. Kansas State (7-3)
16. UCLA (8-2)
17. Washington (8-2)
18. Notre Dame (7-3)
19. Florida State (7-3)
20. UCF (8-2)
21. Tulane (8-2)
22. Oklahoma State (7-3)
23. Oregon State (7-3)
24. NC State (7-3)
25. Cincinnati (8-2)