Clemson is currently No. 3 in the AP Top 25 and No. 6 in the coaches poll; they just beat a team (Miami) so badly that said team fired their coach. They won a massive game earlier in the season in sheeting rain vs. Notre Dame. They look like a Final Four squad for CFB this season, but … and this is always the big ‘but’ … there’s this whole idea of Clemsoning.
Current head coach Dabo Swinney ain’t a fan:
The term generally refers to doing something boneheaded to screw up a season, and/or losing to a lesser opponent when the world was yours for the taking.
So … when is the 2015 Clemsoning due?
Here are Clemson’s remaining games:
- Oct. 31 at NC State (5-2)
- Nov. 7 vs. FSU (6-1)
- Nov. 14 at Syracuse (3-4)
- Nov. 21 vs. Wake Forest (3-5)
- Nov. 28 at South Carolina (3-4)
- ACC Championship Game
That’s actually a relatively tough schedule; the combined record of the teams they’re facing is (without knowing who a potential ACC Title Game opponent is) 20-16. That’s over .500.
Obviously the No. 1 choice here is FSU … you take away their loss to Georgia Tech last weekend and they basically haven’t lost in the ACC in a couple of years. It’s at Clemson, which helps — but still, that’s a ripe place for a L.
I’d say No. 2 as an option is South Carolina … that’s a rivalry game, around Thanksgiving, at the opponent’s place. That’s never an easy W situation.
Right now they’d probably face Pittsburgh in an ACC Title Game … game’s in Charlotte and it feels like they’d basically be the home team, but still, weird stuff happens in Conference Title Games to undefeated or stellar teams.
I don’t see NC State, ‘Cuse, and Wake Forest as threats … but again, isn’t that the definition of Clemsoning? That it should be a team who isn’t a threat whatsoever that causes the mayhem?
For those of you that read this and believe Clemson ’15 is a true team of destiny, take the above with a grain of salt and consider this:
Clemson has won 16 of its last 17 games for the first time since the 1947-49 era. #Clemsoning
— HillWatch (@HillWatch) October 24, 2015
What do you think? Will there be a 2015 Clemsoning?
