One thing to know about the Clemson Tigers college football playoff prospects

There aren’t many teams currently playing as well in college football as the Clemson Tigers.

Since the disappointing start to the season against the Georgia Bulldogs, they have dismantled all of their opponents. Since that loss, they have gone on a five-game winning streak and have won every game by at least 16 wins, dominating in every way.

Based on their performance, the Tigers are firmly in the College Football Playoff field by midseason. They are slowly working their way up as they now hold the number 8 seed and take advantage of other teams’ deficiencies.

One of the teams above them in the midseason predictions is the Miami Hurricanes, who will compete with Clemson at the top of the ACC. But they weren’t nearly as dominant as Clemson when it played close games against the California Golden Bears and Virginia Tech Hokies.

What could change the future prospects for Dabo Swinney and his team? Their toughest remaining game, according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich, is November 16th when they visit the currently undefeated Pittsburgh Panthers.

According to ESPN’s senior writer, this road trip, along with their annual rivalry game against the South Carolina Gamecocks, will be something to watch out for.

“Clemson’s November games against Pitt and South Carolina give the Tigers a little more leeway than Miami as an overall contender if they don’t win the ACC – at least for now.” The committee takes rivalry games into account, and Clemson still has South Carolina proving that on Saturday has that it has a defense against Bama. A road win against a ranked Pitt team that is currently undefeated would also be appreciated by the group,” Dinich wrote.

The Panthers are the only ranked opponent left on the Tigers’ schedule. Winning this game against a top conference opponent would be a huge accomplishment. Louisville and Virginia are the only teams with winning records as they are in good shape moving forward.

If they can handle business in all of their ACC games, the pressure will ease after the South Carolina game. They’ll obviously want to win the rivalry game, but a win against Pittsburgh wouldn’t have much of an impact on their standing in the championship game.

Of course, the easiest way to qualify for the playoffs is to keep winning games. Clemson doesn’t have to rely on the committee to set the table in its conference schedule.