This won't help my homerism, I know, but can we now talk about Clemson's ACC schedule and whether it's relevant?
During regular conference play, Clemson played exactly zero ranked teams. ZERO. They played supposedly the second best team in the mighty ACC championship, the 3 loss (at the time) Virginia, which they manhandled and are now ranked 24. (That's the same Virginia which lost to the incredibly bad 6-7 Miami by the way... that got shut out by Louisiana Tech of all teams in their bowl game.) The only other ranked team they played was A&M, which was a common opponent. Clemson beat them, 24-10. LSU beat them 50-7.
LSU played 3 top 10 teams in conference play. They also played #9 out of conference. A total of of four top ten teams in regular season. Another two top 5 teams in the conference championship and the CFP playoff for a total of 6 top ten teams.
Season recap, both teams undefeated:
Clemson: 3 ranked teams, none in conference, one in the top 10 post season (after a comeback win).
LSU: 6 ranked teams, 5 of 6 in conference, all 6 in the top 10 (3 in the top 5).
Common opponent, Clemson +14, LSU +43.
Yet both teams statistically look comparable.
Does it matter? I always say "No. That's why they play the game". But.....
And oh yeah, LSU's only real running back (1,600+ yards) should be back for the Clemson game.
Hopefully neither team will commit felonies so we can have a full squad game.. Or get the inevitable player caught out too late being drunk, and benched by the coach.
Sorry, but I'll have to pull for Fabio since he's a local guy!