Paul Finebaum remains confident in Clemson as a College Football Playoff contender

Clemson opened the season as the No. 4 team in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. Although the Tigers didn’t necessarily light it up against Georgia Tech, they still beat the Yellow Jackets 41-10 and, in Paul Finebaum’s eyes, kept their spot in the CFP conversation.

Finebaum joined “First Take” alongside Molly Qerim, Stephen A. Smith and Jeff Saturday to talk about Clemson’s standing in the CFP picture. He made a case for Dabo Swinney’s group to return to the CFP even though some around the game think the Tigers might fall out of the top four with a weaker ACC schedule ahead of them.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“I know a lot of people are jumping off the Clemson bandwagon, Molly, because last night was not perfect,” Finebaum said. “It wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was downright ugly for most of the game. But that’s really not the object. The object is to finish the season and to make it into the championship game of the league and, of course, into the CFP and I think they can do that.

“They have two new coordinators, which takes some time to develop. I’m not normally a patient person, but in this case, I’m going to be because I think Dabo Swinney is a good enough coach. I think he has stockpiled enough talent and now, it’s just a matter of navigating a rather sub-par ACC schedule. The one problem they could have, they go to Notre Dame later in the season. They do see Wake [Forest] and NC State. … But I don’t think they’re going to have too many problems. I think Notre Dame is really all they have between a ticket to the ACC championship game — maybe Pittsburgh — and ultimately getting back in the CFP.”

Paul Finebaum shares how Clemson could miss CFP

However, there is a world where Clemson misses the CFP. But Paul Finebaum argued it’ll take a lot to keep the Tigers from playing in a semifinal matchup on New Year’s Eve. Still, it could still happen — but they’ll have to make the most of the weak schedule.

“Last year, they opened the season against Georgia,” Finebaum said. “That really mattered. Even losing to Georgia, they still had a chance and they screwed it up. They don’t have a lot going for them. Their non-conference games are not spectacular. They play South Carolina at the end of the year. Clemson usually does more than that. That game last night was a league game. Some people get it confused. That was a league game at a neutral site even though it was around the corner from Georgia Tech’s campus.

“They could get squeezed out. Now, the only way they can get squeezed out is this. Alabama and Georgia run the table, somebody loses, then you have an undefeated and a one-loss. Then, Ohio State runs the table, and then Oklahoma runs the able. And here’s what you have to worry about, Stephen A. What if Lincoln Riley’s a magic man and [USC runs] the table? By the way, they’re not going to. I’m just making some situations. Other than that, Clemson got a break already by Utah getting out of the way and Oregon being long gone. So, I think they’re in pretty good shape.”