They smoked UVA. Florida somewhat struggled a bit. Syllogism doesn't work of course, but LSU struggled with Florida. Clemson might be THAT good, despite that UNC relative debacle. Joe Burreaux is the wild card for me, he is playing at some kind of weird level I've not seen before.
This game will be worth watching methinks. As for Clemson fatigue, it is hard to see how they don't make the playoffs routinely, Bamaesque, until some year where somebody gets some kind of edge. The do have a series with UGA, but that's 2029-2030.
In some ways it is worse with Clemson/Oklahoma than it is with Bama because we all know that the SEC is a powerful league. When Bama wins it, that is an accomplishment worth noting. This year's ACC was horrible and now that OU has dropped to 0-4 in CFP games I think there are going to be questions about the value of winning the B12 going forward.
Note, I'm not trying to pick a fight with
@utee94 or
@CWSooner or any other B12 fans here. I'm just saying that it IS a potential issue. It was for the B1G after MSU's blowout loss to Bama in 2015. Recent conference history/performance matters whether we like it or not. For the B1G:
In 2014 tOSU won the NC. Then in 2015 MSU won the B1G at 12-1 with a bad loss to a Nebraska team that finished 6-6. Part of the reason that the Nebraska loss did NOT keep MSU out of the CFP was that they had defeated last year's NC and won the conference that the previous NC came from.
Then in 2016 tOSU got in at 11-1 and without a Championship based partially on the perception of tOSU based on winning the CFP in 2014 and winning the Fiesta Bowl in 2015. Ohio State was seen as a legit contender for the NC even without a P5 Championship based partially on perception based on prior years.
Then in 2017 tOSU was left out at 11-2 with a P5 Championship and one of the losses being to a fellow P5 Champion based partially on the fact that tOSU had gotten blown out in the CFP the previous year. 11-1 non-Champion Bama was seen as a more legitimate NC contender based on both teams' past results.
Then in 2018 tOSU was left out and even held behind an 11-2 non-champion from the SEC despite being a 12-1 P5 Champion. By that time the B1G had gone three years without being competitive in the CFP (MSU in 2015 and tOSU in 2016 were blown out) so the SEC runner-up was seen as a more legit NC challenger than the 12-1 B1G Champion.
This year tOSU eliminated all doubt by going 13-0 and their CFP performance did not make them look unworthy of the CFP slot. They clearly stood toe-to-toe with Clemson even though they lost. Next year's B1G Champion will benefit from that even if it isn't tOSU.
This will be a problem for next year's B12 Champion because they have had four CFP chances and only been close one time. If next year's B1G and B12 Champions are close and in contention for the fourth spot I strongly believe that it will go to the B1G Champion based on that history.
