The theme this week is rooting for teams to lose because they are ahead of Clemson in the standings. For any of this to matter, Clemson needs to have a get right game against UNC. I had similar thoughts about the Syracuse game, which did not have the expected result. Dabo still is hopeful that the season can be turned around. This game can help reassure the fanbase of the same. I am holding out hope that Dabo can prove all the doubters wrong (me included), but the Tigers have look abysmal this year.Syracuse v. SMU: Syracuse is having a phenomenal year (even with their game against Duke), while SMU’s has been underwhelming. Even still, SMU is favored by 17.5 points. Clemson fans need Syracuse to lose a few games to have a shot at the ACC Championship and hopefully this will be one of the games. Also, it will be nice to watch Syracuse lose (again) after embarrassing Clemson. I will be paying attention to this game and rooting for SMU. Setting aside rooting for Syracuse’s misery and the fact that we need Syracuse to lose a lot to get to the ACC Championship, SMU and Clemson face off this season so this will be a good data point for how that matchup may go.Boston College v. Pitt: Boston College and Pitt are both in the bottom of the ACC. I am not casting stones as Clemson is there as well. We play Boston College later in the year and at the beginning of the season I would have not been concerned with this game, but presently I am concerned with every game that remains on the schedule. If Pitt can handle Boston College, it will put my mind at ease about Clemson’s upcoming game against them.Virginia v. Louisville: Virginia appears to be a decent football team. Their offense is good (how do we feel about Tony Elliott now?). Their defense may be suspect, but they did enough against Florida State to get the upset. Clemson plays Louisville, but Clemson fans should be rooting for Louisville here. As we need Virginia to lose a couple of games to help boost us in the ACC Standings.Miami v. Florida State: Ok this game should be one that you are already watching if you enjoy college football, but we also need Florida State to lose again. This would give them their second ACC loss which will help us move towards the top of the ACC standings. This means that we need to beat Florida State when we play them later this season, but let’s clear one hurdle at a time.Duke v. Cal: Duke beat the brakes off Syracuse. Not great because Syracuse beat the brakes off Clemson. If you follow out this equation, then that would mean that Duke would beat the brakes off Clemson. I do not think that Duke is as good as the score of that game would let one believe, but they were clearly better than Syracuse that day. If that is representative of what Duke is a football, then they may be able to beat Clemson sure handedly. This game will help us better understand how good Duke is or isn’t.
