The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2020 season were released Tuesday night, and Clemson is ranked No. 3.
The Tigers (7-1) are in the top four of the CFP rankings, despite losing to Notre Dame (8-0) in their last game on Nov. 7.
In front of Clemson is No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Notre Dame. Ohio State rounds out the top 4.
College Football Playoff committee chair Gary Barta explained why Clemson is No. 3 and said Trevor Lawrence missing the game at Notre Dame, as well as injuries the Tigers have dealt with, played into the decision.
Clemson was without Lawrence against the Irish after he tested positive for COVID-19 the previous week. Starting defensive tackle Tyler Davis and starting linebackers Mike Jones Jr. and James Skalski were also out with injuries.
"They've really dominated everyone that they played against other than of course the No. 2 team in Notre Dame. And they were short. They didn't have Trevor Lawrence. They didn't have some of their best defenders," Barta said. "But they've got a solid win against a 10th-ranked Miami team. And at the end of the day, the committee just decided that Clemson deserved that No. 3 slot."
Clemson will not have played for three weeks when the Tigers host Pitt (5-4) on Saturday.
Clemson had a bye the week following the Notre Dame game and was scheduled to face Florida State this past weekend. However, the game was postponed after Clemson had a player test positive for COVID-19 on Friday. The decision to postpone the game was one Clemson coach Dabo Swinney made clear he disagreed with.
Swinney held his weekly press conference on Tuesday and was asked if he was worried that the committee might punish Clemson for not playing for three weeks.
"We've played eight games, so we've played more games than most teams are going to play all year," Swinney said. "I think that's their job ... to evaluate the whole season. We've had one loss to the No. 2 team in the country in double overtime at their place ... So I think they've got plenty to evaluate Clemson on."
Clearly the College Football Playoff committee agreed.
