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Friedlander: SMU-Clemson championship game matchup is a win-win proposition for the ACC
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Within the span of a few hours Saturday, the price of tickets to the ACC Championship Game shot upward while the availability of hotel rooms in Charlotte next weekend plummeted.
With all due respect to Miami, or maybe not considering the postgame comments of South Carolina coach Shane Beamer and Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord, the conference came away from Saturday’s regular-season finales with its best possible title game scenario.
Sure, it would have been nice had Clemson and Miami both won, keeping open the possibility of the league getting 3 teams into the College Football Playoff. And all but guaranteeing that 2 would receive bids. (That still should happen, by the way.)
But under the circumstances, the ACC still came out a winner by having the Tigers, rather than the Hurricanes, face newcomer SMU for the league crown.
It starts with the aesthetics of the matchup.
The ACC is already fighting a losing battle in the war of perception. So the last thing it needed was to have its signature event played before a half-empty stadium.
In prime time.
On network television.
That would have been the case had Miami not imploded after jumping out to an early 21-0 head start at Syracuse.
The Hurricanes have a hard enough filling seats for their own home games. It’s a reasonable assumption that even fewer of their fans would have made the trip to North Carolina.
But that shouldn’t be a problem for Clemson fans.
The caravan of RVs, pickup trucks and other vehicles adorned with orange tiger paw stickers and flags making the short drive north up Interstate 85 on Saturday will be large enough so that the ACC can declare the game a sellout without it being too much of a stretch. No matter how many fans SMU, with the second-smallest enrollment among FBS schools, brings with it from Texas.
Beyond the size of the crowd in the stands, the matchup on the field will be far more compelling than any of the alternatives.
Clemson-SMU isn’t just a battle for a big trophy and an automatic Playoff bid.
It’s David vs. Goliath, even though in this case, the little guy with the slingshot is the team with the better record and higher national ranking. It’s the ACC’s most successful and recognizable program against a team playing in its first season at the power conference level.
Old money vs. nouveau riche.
Regardless of the outcome, Clemson’s brand name brings a level of credibility to the game that Miami – even with its history and star quarterback – could never have matched.
That’s especially important for SMU, which still isn’t being taken seriously despite going undefeated in conference play and 10-1 overall with its only loss coming to No. 17 BYU before Kevin Jennings took over at quarterback.
The Mustangs are No. 9 in the CFP rankings with the likelihood of rising higher in this week’s poll while the Tigers can expect to drop from their spot at No. 12 after losing for the 3rd time this season.
Here's a look at your full set of College Football Playoff selection committee rankings for games played through Saturday, November 23.
Where does your team rank as we head into the holiday and rivalry weekend?#CFBPlayoff 🏈🏆 pic.twitter.com/SkE4lhpFNT
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 27, 2024
And yet Clemson is slight favorite (1.5-2.5 points) depending on which major sportsbook you prefer.
The perception is that SMU has played a soft schedule and hasn’t beaten anyone of consequence.
To a certain extent, that’s true.
The Mustangs didn’t play Clemson or Miami in the regular season and caught Florida State in the throes of a historic meltdown. And their nonconference slate, outside of BYU (their only loss), was equally unimpressive.
The reality, however, is that Tigers’ resume is just as flimsy. They’ve lost to the 3 best teams they’ve played. That includes ACC rival Louisville, which SMU beat.
Of their 9 wins, only 1 has come against an opponent with a winning record – Pittsburgh, which finished on a 5-game losing streak after starting 7-0. Even then, it took a miracle 50-yard touchdown run by Cade Klubnik in the final 76 seconds to beat the Panthers.
But Clemson is Clemson and SMU is the little team that could.
So why let facts get in the way of a good narrative?
The upside, at least where the ACC is concerned is that the conference can declare victory regardless of which color confetti comes raining down over Bank of America once the clock hits zero.
If the Tigers win, it’s because they were supposed to win. If the Mustangs win, they’ll have finally earned the marquee victory that has to this point eluded them.
That still won’t completely validate them as a legitimate national contender. But it will give them a much bigger push in that direction heading into the national spotlight than by beating a Miami team with a reputation for coming up small in big spots.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
