Am I the only one that has no problem with what Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said about Tennessee football?
If you recall, Swinney was quoted as saying Tennessee would be “flipping burgers” during championship weekend. Here is an excerpt:
“When you’re in Tennessee’s position, and they’re like, ‘OK, we beat South Carolina, we beat Vandy,’ and they’re in the playoffs. They’re flipping burgers at the house, having a cold drink watching the championship weekend, ‘What are we? Are we 3 or 4? Where are we going? Are we in Arizona or are we in Atlanta?’ And the next thing you know, you forget you’ve gotta go play.”
If you missed it, Swinney was being asked about getting his team properly prepared for the ACC Championship Game this weekend and, as Swinney often does, he let his mind wander. It wandered west to Tennessee.
Swinney may have confused the point, but it’s pretty simple. The College Football Playoff system has taken away a great deal from the conference championship games. That’s a shame. Winning the SEC should mean something. However, it’s not even a play-in game for either team this year. Georgia will make the College Football Playoff no matter what happens in Atlanta on Saturday. LSU, with three losses, will not make the College Football Playoff this year no matter what happens in the Mercedes-Benz Dome.
It’s almost like the College Football Playoff fixed parts about the system and made others worse. There should be a playoff, yes. However, a conference championship should mean something, right?
Had Tennessee football not lost to South Carolina, the Vols would have been in great shape to make the College Football Playoff by NOT playing in the SEC Championship Game. They would just need a loss by Southern California OR Texas Christian to make a strong argument. That means it’s better to be “flipping burgers” than playing in a championship game. Something doesn’t seem right with all of that.
Swinney tried to clarify his point that he made before Clemson lost to South Carolina on Saturday:
The good news is that once the 12-team playoff is put into place, there will be a locked position for the top six conference champions, with the top four getting a first-round bye. That’ll make the conference championship games much more relevant for everybody.
2 Responses
Excellent commentary. Totally in agreement! Now if we could only get a great bowl & matchup!
Thank you sir!