Clemson drops behind Notre Dame in ESPN power ranking |
What does a "power" ranking really mean? Your guess is as good as anybody's but ESPN dropped Clemson to No. 4 in its power rankings
after this week's developments.
ESPN's Chris Low puts together the list and has Alabama on top, followed by Ohio State and Clemson's opponent this week, Notre Dame (7:30 p.m./NBC). "All of a sudden, the road to an ACC championship looks a little less daunting for Notre Dame," Low said, "which cruised past Georgia Tech for a 31-13 victory Saturday on the road. Clemson will be without starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence on Saturday, when the Irish and Tigers meet in South Bend, and Notre Dame goes into that contest playing lights-out on defense. The Irish have given up just two touchdowns in their past three games." Georgia rounds out that ranking at No. 5. ESPN's Football Power Index kept Clemson (26.8) in third behind Ohio State (32.8) and Alabama (30.5). Admittedly a quirk of 2020 scheduling, ESPN's SP+ also moved Clemson to fourth behind Wisconsin, which has played one game. On a neutral field, the metric would have Ohio State around a touchdown favorite (31.2-24.2) and Alabama a four-point favorite (28.1). Also on the four-letter network's site, Alabama took over the top projected spot in the College Football Playoff, where Clemson is second on average and then Ohio State and Notre Dame. ESPN's bowl predictors still have Clemson moving on to a national title matchup with Alabama but after a date with Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
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