Clemson to face Texas to open College Football Playoff. Here are the details
Clemson’s College Football Playoff path is set.
The Tigers are the No. 12 seed in the inaugural 12-team bracket and will open on the road at No. 5 Texas in a first-round game on Saturday, Dec. 21 (4 p.m., TNT).
The winner of that game will advance to play No. 4 Arizona State on Jan. 1 in a quarterfinal game at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta (1 p.m., ESPN/ABC).
Clemson opened as a 10.5-point underdog to Texas, per DraftKings. The Tigers and Longhorns both rank among the 13 winningest programs in FBS history but have never played each other.
“We’re super excited about being in the playoff,” coach Dabo Swinney said Sunday in a Zoom teleconference. “We knew we had to win the championship against a really tough SMU team. Now we know where we’re going.”
He added of visiting Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin in two weeks: “What an opportunity. What a magical, historic, opportunity. ... We’re just thankful to have an opportunity to compete at the highest level.”
The full 12-team bracket was announced Sunday afternoon on ESPN and corresponded with the CFP selection committee’s final Top 25 rankings.
The top four seeds, in order, were Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State.
Clemson moved up one spot from No. 17 to No. 16 in the final CFP rankings, the lowest ranking of any team seeded in the field. The Tigers were ranked below No. 9 Boise State and No. 12 Arizona State, who secured the final two first-round byes the Tigers were thought to be in contention for.
Clemson (10-3) earned an automatic bid to the field after beating SMU in Saturday night’s ACC championship game in Charlotte. The Tigers won 34-31 on a walk-off 56-yard field goal by freshman kicker Nolan Hauser at Bank of America Stadium.
Junior quarterback Cade Klubnik (four touchdown passes) was named the game’s MVP for the second time in his career as the Tigers won their eighth ACC championship over the past 10 seasons.
Texas, formerly of the Big 12, went 11-1 and 7-1 in the SEC in its first year in the conference before losing to Georgia in Saturday’s league championship game in Atlanta. The Longhorns are making their second-straight CFP appearance.
It’s Clemson’s first appearance in the CFP since 2020. The Tigers made the four-team field six years in a row from 2015-20 under coach Dabo Swinney and won national championships in 2016 and 2018 before missing the field from 2021-23.
Full 2024 College Football Playoff bracket
First round games
Dec. 20-21, campus sites
Dec. 21: No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas (4 p.m., TNT)
Dec. 21: No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State (8 p.m., ESPN/ABC)
Dec. 21: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State (noon, TNT)
Dec. 20: No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame (8 p.m., ESPN/ABC)
Quarterfinals
Dec. 31-Jan. 1, bowl sites
Jan. 1: No. 4 Arizona State vs. Clemson/Texas at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta (1 p.m., ESPN/ABC)
Jan. 1: No. 1 Oregon vs. Tennessee/Ohio State at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California (5 p.m., ESPN/ABC)
Dec. 31: No. 3 Boise State vs. SMU/Penn State winner at Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona (7:30 p.m., ESPN/ABC)
Jan. 1: No. 2 Georgia vs. Indiana/Notre Dame winner at Sugar Bowl in New Orleans (8:45 p.m., ESPN/ABC)
This story was originally published December 8, 2024 at 12:27 PM.
