The Daily Nole

Stakes High for FSU, Higher for Clemson

Michael Schwarz/FSU athletics

With nationally televised top-15 match-ups, the implication usually is that there is a lot on the line in regards of what it means for the teams’ seasons. For Florida State this week however, that’s not the case — at least compared to years past.

On Saturday night, the third-ranked Clemson Tigers will come to Doak Campbell Stadium in a contest that has traditionally been the game to see in the ACC. This year’s contest could again be wildly entertaining, but as far as what’s on the line, Clemson has much more to lose than FSU.

For Clemson, getting back to the national championship is still on the table. At No. 3 in the country, Clemson is in line for one of the four spots in the College Football Playoff and is the only ACC team currently unbeaten — even in conference play.

Since 2009, the winner of the annual meeting between the Seminoles and Tigers has gone on to represent the ACC’s Atlantic division in the conference title game every year. The schools have combined to win the last five ACC titles and in each of those five seasons, both teams entered the contest ranked. Two of those five were match-ups of top-10 teams. The teams have also combined to play for two of the last three national championships.

Losing to FSU would not necessarily kill Clemson’s playoff chances on Saturday night, but it would reduce the Tigers’ margin for error. Clemson holds the tiebreaker in the ACC Atlantic having beat Louisville head-to-head earlier this season and would still have a very good chance of earning a berth in a national semifinal if it were to run the table.

What a loss on Saturday would do however, is keep Clemson from controlling its own destiny for the College Football Playoff. Each of the four other Power 5 conferences currently have at least one undefeated team (Michigan and Nebraska in Big Ten, Alabama in SEC, Washington in Pac-12, West Virginia and Baylor in Big 12) and if an undefeated team from each of those conferences were to run the table, the Tigers would likely be left out in the cold.

For Florida State, beating Clemson on Saturday night would likely not have the same ramifications in years past. The many goals set before the season are largely a distant memory. Not only are the Seminoles out of the national championship race, but the prospect of winning the ACC has also seemed to fall by the wayside.

Even if Florida State were able to win on Saturday night, it would need to run the table and have both Clemson and Louisville lose one other game to have a shot at winning the ACC. Even then, FSU would have to win in a 3-way tiebreaker.

Clemson’s toughest two remaining games post-FSU are at home against Pittsburgh and at Wake Forest. Wake is the only one of Louisville’s three remaining ACC opponents with more than three total wins this season. Barring a miracle, FSU won’t be headed to Orlando the first Saturday in December.

What is on the table for the Seminoles however, is a New Year’s Six bowl berth and a 10-win season. Neither would bring thunderous appraise given what the preseason expectations for FSU were, but they would make for a nice set of consolation prizes given that the Seminoles started the year just 3-2 and 0-2 in ACC play.

Though the stakes for Florida State are lower than they have been for any game against Clemson since probably 2009, finding motivation shouldn’t be hard. FSU will be in front of its raucous home crowd and performing poorly could have significant consequences for the program down the road.

Clemson defeated the Seminoles 23-13 in Death Valley last season and even though FSU controlled its own destiny in the ACC entering the contest, 2015 was largely viewed as a rebuilding year for the Seminoles. While the ACC crown is likely out of the equation for FSU, allowing Clemson to win in Tallahassee for the first time in a decade on Saturday would signify that the Tigers had indeed passed the Seminoles as the premier program in the conference.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply