Swinney feels like he has a team to compete in new Playoff format

Clemson's Dabo Swinney believes his team can return to the Playoffs.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed May 08 07:00:03 GMT-04:00 2024

The College Football Playoff format is undergoing a big change this season, and Clemson head Dabo Swinney believes his Tigers will be in the hunt for a spot.

Clemson went 9-4 (4-4 ACC) in 2023 but won the season's final five games, including a bowl win over Kentucky. The Tigers kick off the 2024 season against Georgia in Atlanta on Aug. 31 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That site happens to be where the National Championship will be played in mid-January.

The new 12-team College Football Playoff field will include the five highest-ranked conference champions, which will receive automatic bids. The seven highest-ranked teams remaining will round out the 12-team format. The top four conference champions will receive a first-round bye to the quarterfinals.

Swinney told SiriusXM’s Dusty and Danny in the Morning that he’s looking forward to the challenge.

“It’ll be fun,” Swinney said. “Embrace it – that’s one of those things we were talking about earlier. Things happen. You adapt as you go. I mean, we didn’t have a playoff, and then it was whatever, BCS, and then you get the four-team, and now we’re going to 12 for a cup of coffee, and then we’re going somewhere else. So, it’ll be fun.”

While other programs scramble to fill holes left by players departing in the transfer portal – and add players from the portal – Clemson has remained quiet, and Swinney believes that’s a good thing.

“This is a weird, weird time in college football because there’s so many changes at one time. So, you just put your head down and focus on what you’re doing and making sure that you put yourself in the best possible position to have a chance to make the playoffs,” he said. “That’s really kind of where you are in this game now. It’s all about trying to have a chance to make the playoffs.”

He also believes Clemson is a team that can make the playoffs.

“We went in the final four, I think we had the second-most appearances. I think we went six years in a row and got the second-most wins. So, we’ve proven we can do it with four, so we definitely feel like that with 12 or 16 or wherever it’s going to end up that we’re a playoff-caliber team, and you get in the playoffs, anything can happen,” Swinney said.

“So, we’re excited about the opportunity, and it starts with your path there. It always starts with trying to win your conference. That’s the No. 1 thing because, especially with the way they’re making the rules now with the byes and all that type of stuff. So, it’ll be fun to go through this new phase with everybody and see how it all plays out.”

Here is how the new playoff format works:

As mentioned before, the four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded Nos. 1-4 and receive a first-round bye. Seeds 5-12 will play each other in the first round. The higher-seeded teams will play host in their first-round games. Here's a breakdown of the first-round matchups:

No. 5 vs. No. 12
No. 6 vs. No. 11
No. 7 vs. No. 10
No. 8 vs. No. 9

New Year's Six bowl games will be introduced in the quarterfinal round. The semifinals will be played in bowls on a rotating basis, while the national championship host site is determined through bids by prospective host sites.

Here is the 2024-25 CFP Schedule:

GAME DATE