The College Football Playoff Committee has spoken and seeded, and ACC Champion Clemson is the #12 seed in the field, the lowest of the five conference champions to get automatic bids. As a result, the Tigers will travel to #5 seed Texas in two weekends for a quarterfinal round game. The winner will face #4 seed Arizona State in the quarterfinal round in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta January 1st.
The Clemson at Texas game will be played on December 21st with a 4:00 PM kickoff on TNT. First odds on the game have the Longhorns as 14.5 point favorites.
The Tigers earned their spot in the playoff field by virtue of their three-point win over SMU Saturday night in Charlotte in the ACC Championship Game. The Tigers had to win that game to make the Playoffs, and they did so with a 56-yard field goal by Nolan Hauser on the final play of the game.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the Tigers and Longhorns who between them own seven national championships and 59 conference championships. Texas has the fifth most wins in college football history with 959 while Clemson is 13th alltime with 808 wins.
Texas is coming off an overtime loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game Saturday. The Longhorns are 11-2 with both losses coming to Georgia. They own wins over four teams which were ranked when they played them….#10 Michigan on the road, #18 Oklahoma in Dallas, #25 Vanderbilt on the road and #20 Texas A&M on the road. They have been ranked #1 in the AP Poll four different times this season.
The Longhorns are averaging 33.6 points per game while allowing 12.5 points per game. Quarterback Quinn Ewers has thrown for 2665 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Tre Wisner is the leading rusher with 863 yards and three touchdowns, and the top receiver is Gunner Helm with 49 catches for 611 yards and five touchdowns.
The College Football Playoff berth extends Clemson’s school-record bowl streak to 20 years, the longest streak in the ACC and the fourth-longest streak in the country. Clemson’s 20-year streak dates to its Champs Sports Bowl win against Colorado to close the 2005 season. Though Clemson did not make a bowl appearance in 2004, Clemson has now been bowl eligible in 26 consecutive seasons, dating to a 1999 appearance in the Peach Bowl.
Clemson is 12-8 in bowl games under Head Coach Dabo Swinney, including a 6-4 mark in College Football Playoff play. Swinney’s 12 bowl wins are an ACC record, and his six College Football Playoff victories are the most of any active coach.
With the first round moving to an on-campus format this season, ticket requests for Clemson’s road game at Texas are not available. However, IPTAY donors can request College Football Playoff tickets for subsequent rounds at this link in advance of 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 11.
CFP Schedule
- First round (Dec. 20-21)
- Friday, Dec. 20: No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN
- Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State | 12 p.m. | TNT/MAX
- Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas | 4 p.m. | TNT/MAX
- Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN
- Quarterfinals (Dec. 31-Jan. 1)
- Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Boise State vs. No. 6 Penn State/No. 11 SMU winner | 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31 | ABC/ESPN
- Peach Bowl: No. 4 Arizona State vs. No. 5 Texas/No. 12 Clemson winner | 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
- Rose Bowl: No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Ohio State/No. 9 Tennessee winner | 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
- Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 7 Notre Dame/No. 10 Indiana winner | 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
- Semifinals (Jan. 9-10)
- Orange Bowl: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9 | ESPN
- Cotton Bowl: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10 | ESPN
- CFP National Championship
- 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 | ESPN
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
CFP Bracket
Final CFP Ranking
| RANK | SCHOOL | RECORD | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon | 13-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Georgia | 11-2 | 5 |
| 3 | Texas | 11-2 | 2 |
| 4 | Penn State | 11-2 | 3 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 11-1 | 4 |
| 6 | Ohio State | 10-2 | 6 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 10-2 | 7 |
| 8 | Indiana | 11-1 | 9 |
| 9 | Boise State | 12-1 | 10 |
| 10 | SMU | 11-2 | 8 |
| 11 | Alabama | 9-3 | 11 |
| 12 | Arizona State | 11-2 | 15 |
| 13 | Miami | 10-2 | 12 |
| 14 | Ole Miss | 9-3 | 13 |
| 15 | South Carolina | 9-3 | 14 |
| 16 | Clemson | 10-3 | 17 |
| 17 | BYU | 10-2 | 18 |
| 18 | Iowa State | 10-3 | 16 |
| 19 | Missouri | 9-3 | 19 |
| 20 | Illinois | 9-3 | 21 |
| 21 | Syracuse | 9-3 | 22 |
| 22 | Army | 11-1 | 24 |
| 23 | Colorado | 9-3 | 23 |
| 24 | UNLV | 10-3 | 20 |
| 25 | Memphis | 10-2 | 25 |