Where Clemson ranks in one of the last CFP Top 25 polls

It will be a top 25 matchup when South Carolina hosts Clemson Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The Gamecocks are ranked No. 24 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, which were released Tuesday night on ESPN. Clemson dropped a spot to No. 3 behind Miami.

This is the first time South Carolina has been ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings, which started in 2014.

“It’s a team that’s really played well, and they’ve gotten better as the year has gone. Will (Muschamp) and his staff, they’ve done a great job of giving these guys a chance to win each week,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said Tuesday. “They had a couple of other games where they were also in position to win… Give those guys credit. They’re playing hard. They’re playing with great effort. They’re playing smart.”

Alabama is ranked No. 1, followed by Miami, Clemson and Oklahoma.

If Alabama wins out and the Tigers remain ranked third, the Crimson Tide would play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, while Clemson would play in the Rose Bowl in a semifinal game in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1.

Clemson and Miami will face off in the ACC Championship game on Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. in Charlotte.

The final rankings that will determine the participants in the College Football Playoff semifinals come out Dec. 3.

Clemson, the defending national champion, is trying to make the playoff for the third consecutive year.

The Tigers entered the playoff as the No. 1 team in 2015 before losing in the national title game and were No. 2 last year before defeating Alabama to win the championship.

The rest of the top 10 includes Wisconsin at No. 5, followed by Auburn, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State.

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Where Clemson ranks in one of the last CFP Top 25 polls."