CFP Selection Committee Chair: Clemson, South Carolina 'very close to each other'
The latest College Football Playoff Rankings slotted Clemson one spot ahead of South Carolina.
The Tigers checked in at number 17, while Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks were listed at number 18.
Dabo Swinney’s club is currently 8-2, and that was cited by the chairman of the selection committee as the primary reason for the decision.
“The difference, as you can see, Clemson has lost two games,” Warde Manuel told media after the rankings were revealed. “I just think they are playing good football as well as South Carolina.”
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The Gamecocks sit at 7-3 and have won four straight contests heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
“Both are coming off wins,” Manuel said. “The win by Clemson and South Carolina’s win versus Missouri.”
Manuel, who serves as the athletics director at the University of Michigan, expanded more on the Tigers’ resume so far.
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“They bounced back from that Louisville loss and had back-to-back road wins at Virginia Tech and Pitt,” he said. “Significant loss to Georgia at the beginning of the season, but they’ve come back. Cade Klubnick has really controlled the offense and done very well. That run to end the game against Pitt was phenomenal.”
Both the Tigers and the Gamecocks have two games remaining. Up next, Clemson has The Citadel at home this weekend, while South Carolina matches up with Wofford at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday.
Of course, the CFP selection committee will have another interesting data point to compare these two teams during the last week of the regular season: the Gamecocks will travel to the Upstate to play on the road against Clemson.
“It’ll be interesting to see,” Manuel said. “They’re very close. The committee feels that Clemson and South Carolina are very close to each other as it relates to how we see those two teams.”
