2024 College Football Thread

[therealmjl]

SMU doesn’t want to play because they know a pissed off Clemson team is going to spank them.

[CRA]

9 minutes ago, therealmjl said:

SMU doesn’t want to play because they know a pissed off Clemson team is going to spank them.

I mean, Clemson is pissed.  They are the most talented team probably SMU has seen this year.  And for whatever experience gets you.....it's their 8th title game in the last 10 years.  And say what you want about Dabo (I get the outsider dislike), but in house, Dabo Swinney is one heck of a motivator.  And he is really is trying to turn on his why not us narrative pretty strong.  Fueling the team off the hate. 

I think the game likely comes down to this, will Dabo (the over loyal coach)......put Mafah on the bench? Or a significantly limited role.   Dude is hurt.  He wouldn't take him off the field vs SC.  A hurt power RB is just a slow RB.  But the last ACC title game is also where he was willing to finally put DJU down in the name of winning at the end. 

I like Clemson's odds much better this week than last.  But in fairness, I still haven't watched a SMU game, just highlights.  So I really don't know what they are bringing to the table. 

[LinvilleGorge]

4 minutes ago, therealmjl said:

SMU doesn’t want to play because they know a pissed off Clemson team is going to spank them.

They don't want to play because they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. They're in the exact same spot as ND without the brand name. They've played a soft schedule and have one win over a ranked team but unlike ND their one loss is actually to a decent top 20 team. 

SMU's resume is every bit as strong as ND's but ND is sitting very comfortably at #4 probably looking at a first round bye while SMU is probably playing for their playoff lives. It's fuged up. They really need to force ND into a conference if they want to be eligible for the playoffs. 

[CRA]

I think instead of teams fixating on would scheduling X over Y be the difference maker......just realize that won't matter in the end.  What will matter, is who is close to you and what that does for national viewership interest. 

Bama has a huge fanbase and they have the perfect compliment to that.  Lots of haters.  So they get love and hate watching.  I think even if Clemson belonged, let's say they beat SC and Miami won.  Think they would have had strong at large odds because they have a good fanbase.....and they get the added hate watching. 

So maybe a SEC would want to throw comical money at Deion Sanders to try to woo him to be PR guy who dabbles as HC. 

[CamWhoaaCam]

6 minutes ago, CRA said:

I think instead of teams fixating on would scheduling X over Y be the difference maker......just realize that won't matter in the end.  What will matter, is who is close to you and what that does for national viewership interest. 

Bama has a huge fanbase and they have the perfect compliment to that.  Lots of haters.  So they get love and hate watching.  I think even if Clemson belonged, let's say they beat SC and Miami won.  Think they would have had strong at large odds because they have a good fanbase.....and they get the added hate watching. 

So maybe a SEC would want to throw comical money at Deion Sanders to try to woo him to be PR guy who dabbles as HC. 

Who cares about Clemson besides the Carolina's? They are not some Nat'l program like the Alabama/Georgia/Ohio State. Those schools have real tradition. Clemson is not in that kind of conversation in terms of viewership.

 

Also why would Deion go to the SEC. He sitting perfect at Colorado in a conference that he could dominate for the next decade or however long he wants to coach. Only way I think he leaves Colorado is if they massively underpay him compared to what a school in the SEC would pay him. 

 

 

[LinvilleGorge]

I would almost guarantee that Clemson is a top 10 team when it comes to average television ratings. Sports fandom is very much what have you one for me lately and Clemson has been one of the top teams in the country over the last decade. Honestly, there was a stretch of a few years when they were THE top team in the country.

[TEClemson53]

16 hours ago, CRA said:

But I still don’t expect it going to portal kids. 

He's going to have no choice this year. The recruiting class was so small once he lost the 4-5 decommitments. Dabo will have to get portal kids to have depth. I think he grabs a RB, CB and DE. They've also already been rumored to a portal punter.

[CRA]

2 hours ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

Who cares about Clemson besides the Carolina's? They are not some Nat'l program like the Alabama/Georgia/Ohio State. Those schools have real tradition. Clemson is not in that kind of conversation in terms of viewership.

 

Also why would Deion go to the SEC. He sitting perfect at Colorado in a conference that he could dominate for the next decade or however long he wants to coach. Only way I think he leaves Colorado is if they massively underpay him compared to what a school in the SEC would pay him. 

 

 

Clemson has been the 2nd best team in the CFP era.  An ACC school.  They are a national program.    You debate if they can stay there or not.  I can handle the argument they are soon to fall out. No one besides grandpa cares about what happened in the 80s or 90s or whatever tradition you want to toot about.   My kid isn't turning on Notre Dame on NBC.   Present day TV eyeballs don't care.  And it's not about comparing Clemson to Bama in terms of viewership.  It's about the edge they would have on teams right beneath that Bama tier.  Which totally would be relevant in a 12 team CFP environment. 

Clemson not only has a good fanbase...but unlike say a South Carolina team, Clemson has real nationwide hate. Love it or hate, they have legit personality.   Which is basically the point.  And it's unique.   It's why SEC talking head Paul Finnebaum has spent the last decade fixated on them.  And Dabo Swinney is 100% a key driver of that relevance/interest/added hate component.  Lose him and it changes Clemson in many ways.  They immediately become irrelevant IMO in the national convo.  

I don't think Deion continues coaching.   We have done this dance.  It was about his son and nothing else.  Latest example was that last Heisman pitch they made to the voters.  HeisMEN and his son prioritized first over Hunter.  I'm just saying he would be a Dabo on steroids.  So you take a random SEC/Big10 school A and random school B and make them equal.  If Deion is coaching one of those, the CFP is going to put them in.  So that matters more than slight scheduling tinkering or SOS or whatever.  It's all a money game in the end.  It's a show in the end. 

[CRA]

1 hour ago, TEClemson53 said:

He's going to have no choice this year. The recruiting class was so small once he lost the 4-5 decommitments. Dabo will have to get portal kids to have depth. I think he grabs a RB, CB and DE. They've also already been rumored to a portal punter.

Oh, I think he might technically use it.  I just don't see him using it in the manner the rest of the field will.  

[Joe Bear]

I don't think ND can get a bye. They're locked into No. 6.

[CamWhoaaCam]

22 minutes ago, CRA said:

Clemson has been the 2nd best team in the CFP era.  An ACC school.  They are a national program.    You debate if they can stay there or not.  I can handle the argument they are soon to fall out. No one besides grandpa cares about what happened in the 80s or 90s or whatever tradition you want to toot about.   My kid isn't turning on Notre Dame on NBC.   Present day TV eyeballs don't care.  And it's not about comparing Clemson to Bama in terms of viewership.  It's about the edge they would have on teams right beneath that Bama tier.  Which totally would be relevant in a 12 team CFP environment. 

Clemson not only has a good fanbase...but unlike say a South Carolina team, Clemson has real nationwide hate. Love it or hate, they have legit personality.   Which is basically the point.  And it's unique.   It's why SEC talking head Paul Finnebaum has spent the last decade fixated on them.  And Dabo Swinney is 100% a key driver of that relevance/interest/added hate component.  Lose him and it changes Clemson in many ways.  They immediately become irrelevant IMO in the national convo.  

I don't think Deion continues coaching.   We have done this dance.  It was about his son and nothing else.  Latest example was that last Heisman pitch they made to the voters.  HeisMEN and his son prioritized first over Hunter.  I'm just saying he would be a Dabo on steroids.  So you take a random SEC/Big10 school A and random school B and make them equal.  If Deion is coaching one of those, the CFP is going to put them in.  So that matters more than slight scheduling tinkering or SOS or whatever.  It's all a money game in the end.  It's a show in the end. 

The problem is the ACC is no longer what you think it is. They are viewed as the 3rd biggest power 5 conference behind the SEC and Big 10. Sadly it's just not enough to be a Nat'l powerhouse. Most of the schools that do numbers are from the SEC. When you talk college football it all starts with the SEC.

 

The ACC has fell off it's been a while since I considered them the big Dawgs. Hell I might have been a teenager the last time the ACC were the big Dawgs of college football.

[Brooklyn 3.0]

In a decade the new CFP is going to be a four team round robin lol.

[LinvilleGorge]

14 minutes ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

The problem is the ACC is no longer what you think it is. They are viewed as the 3rd biggest power 5 conference behind the SEC and Big 10. Sadly it's just not enough to be a Nat'l powerhouse. Most of the schools that do numbers are from the SEC. When you talk college football it all starts with the SEC.

 

The ACC has fell off it's been a while since I considered them the big Dawgs. Hell I might have been a teenager the last time the ACC were the big Dawgs of college football.

When did anyone ever view the ACC as anything other than the 3rd or even 4th best football conference?

[CamWhoaaCam]

28 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

When did anyone ever view the ACC as anything other than the 3rd or even 4th best football conference?

Florida State and Miami were the cool schools in the 90's. The ACC had a short run when it was that conference.