Is Clemson REALLY the Champ?

Clemson University won its first National Championship since 1981. Head Coach Dabo Sweeny and Heisman finalist DeShaun Watson were one of the best coach/quarterback pairs in football this year. But was Clemson really the best team this year?

Clemson played an incredibly weak schedule front to back, especially out-of-conference. Let's start with Auburn. While the other Tigers do look stronger now, finishing the year 8-5 and ranked 14th in the final poll, they were a mess week one. Auburn used all three of their quarterbacks and were able to squeak out a measly 13 points. Clemson did not do much better, managing 19 points and securing the win on the last play due to a missed Hail Mary opportunity.

In the following weeks, they beat Troy University 30-24 and South Carolina State 59-0. Their last out-of-conference game was against South Carolina who ranked 62nd in total defense and 105th in total offense. Remember, D-1 football only has 128 teams. The Tigers ran away with a 56-7 win. It's safe to say that Clemson's out-of-conference was a joke and they should have blown these teams out of the water. Close wins with Auburn and Troy should show that this team was not ready.

Moving on to ACC play. How many games did Clemson almost lose? NC State? Florida State? Louisville? Clemson is a few miscues away from being 8-4 and being in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

Let's start with NC State. They came to play, plain and simple. If not for a missed field goal at the end of regulation, the Wolfpack gets a win over a top-10 team for the first time since 2012. Watson was forced to throw 52 passes that game and still managed a measly 17 points at the end of four quarters.

The Louisville game was a shootout that came down to the final drive. The red-hot Lamar Jackson was driving the Cardinals down the field and his receiver ran out of bounds on fourth and 12 with a yard to go. The receiver, James Quick, revealed that he thought he made the line of gain because the official in charge of the line was standing a yard in front of the first down marker. The official is supposed to be standing directly over the marker.

Finally, the Florida State game. We all remember the chop block call on Freddie Stevenson that was not even close to a chop block, right? That play negated a 9 yard run by Dalvin Cook while the Seminoles were still up two points. The Noles were forced to punt on that series. We can also blame the Florida State player who is mostly responsible for making Deondre Francois look like a punching bag: Right Tackle Brock Ruble.

On the final drive for the Seminoles, down by three, Ruble was the most unreliable player on the field. Ruble accounted for one hold and two false starts. Both plays would have put the Seminoles deep in Clemson territory. Clemson did not win this game, Florida State lost it.

But that has been the story of Clemson's season. The Tigers never won the big games, the opponents lost them.

Obviously, people will say, "but they shutout Ohio State!" and "they won the championship on the last play of the game!" While this is true, you also need to look at the facts. The majority of the Ohio State team had never played in the playoff before. Most of their team is made up of first year starters after the huge exodus of players to the NFL last season.

As for Alabama, the referees blew the game.

On Clemson's final two drives, which both ended in touchdowns, the Tigers were not flagged for pass interference in the end zone. The first one was more excessive than the game-winning catch. Since no flag was thrown on the play, Clemson thought they could get away with it again. And they did. If you don't believe me, watch the final two drives and then watch The Herd with Colin Cowherd talking about the title game.

So is Clemson REALLY the best team in college football?

No.