The favorite to win the ACC title may be decided in Death Valley on Saturday when No. 5 seed Clemson hosts 14th in Syracuse.
Despite scoring three important victories over rivals Wake Forest, NC State and Florida State, Clemson’s toughest test to date may actually be in Syracuse.
Tigers #5 7-0 and 5-0 in ACC play. After outsmarting the Deacs, avenging last year’s loss to the Wolfpack and making sure Noles has yet to show up, Clemson should be ready for Saturday’s Dino Babers No. 14 orange. Although they haven’t played as hard as the Tigers’ schedule, Syracuse is going to go bowling this season and Dino Babers work is safe.
While it’s tough to shovel Syracuse past Death Valley’s road history, a win over Clemson would put Orange in the driver’s seat to get to Charlotte from ACC Atlantic.
It seems that Syracuse is the biggest threat to Clemson out of the acc
For Clemson to return to Charlotte, the Tigers will likely need to go 7-1 in team play and get a head-to-head tiebreaker on Syracuse. There are two more ACC home games against struggling Louisville and the Rebuild Miami Program. Although they wouldn’t want to lose any of those to avoid being scammed by the selection committee, they could afford it.
With Clemson holding the tiebreak head-on over Florida State, North Carolina State and Wake Forest, the Tigers have to do worse than the Seminoles, Wolfpack and Demon Deacons in the ACC Atlantic to not win the squad. Meanwhile, Syracuse still has to play Florida and Wake Forest in this season’s division. Orange had no problems versus the Wolfpack.
What makes this game so important is not only that the winner remains undefeated, but that he will have a head-to-head tiebreaker in the superior ACC division. The best team in the ACC Coastal right now is North Carolina, but the Tar Heels have a defense that can’t stop a nosebleed. Outside of the two-lose Pittsburgh Panthers, everyone else in the ACC Coastal has three losses already…
Not to mention that this crucial conference game between the Orange and the Tigers will decide the ACC, but it’s definitely heading in that direction. If the Tigers win, it would be difficult to envision a scenario in which Clemson slips in and does not participate in the playoff. If the orange pulls out of the massive road turmoil, we may have to start serious discussions about whether Syracuse has a legitimate chance.
Regardless, the early afternoon game between Syracuse and Clemson could be for all the marbles.
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