Welcome to a special College Football Playoff edition of college football hate. Its been a minute since Ive posted one of these, but its four hours to game time, and Ive been kicking this article around in my head all , I am thrilled Clemson has the opportunity to play in this game sheerly for spite. This tournament https://www.clemsontigersfansshop.com/373-Will_Heldt_Jersey , in theory, is designed to find the best team in college football for the 2024 season. After watching the Tigers struggle against slightly aboveaverage teams, Im confident that team isnt Clemson. Ive seen Championship Clemson football, and at no point this season did I think, Yeah man, thats it, while watching my Tigers. Thats the beauty of this I expect Clemson to win this game?I do not, but it doesnt joy isnt derived from winning or losing this game. What gets my atrophied heart beating is the misery of other college football programs. If that misery is inflicted upon them by my Tigers, its even more invigorating. Clemson has nothing to lose because the very fact theyre playing in the game has caused untold misery in multiple SEC towns. Fans in Columbia, Oxford, and Tuscaloosa are going to watch this game while holding their breath and balling up their Kiffin took time away from his busy schedule of allegedly tampering with other rosters to vent his frustration over having to watch Indiana lose to Notre Dame from his hot tub. In my mind, when Lane isnt coaching, hes in a hot tub. Instead of watching his team lose to Notre Dame from the sidelines. On a neutral field, Id take Ole Miss over Indiana 10 out of 10 times, but Indiana didnt lose a home game to Kentucky or fall apart on the road in a mustwin game against Ole Miss better than Indiana? it matter?Nope. According to the CFP, everyone was certain Ole Miss wasnt the best team in the nation, while Indiana had one last chance to prove , Ole Miss beat a Georgia team that absolutely mauled Clemson 2810. Bama put up 41 points on a Georgia Bulldog defense that Clemson couldnt have scored 41 points on if given 12 quarters. We know South Carolina is better than this Clemson team because we watched the game, and yet none of it matters. The Tigers get at least one more opportunity to play football. Im confident Clemson isnt the best team in the country, but teams make runs all the time. Look no further than TCU with offensive coordinator Garrett Riley in 2022. On paper, Michigan was the better team, but two picksixes and a 75yard fourthquarter touchdown pass later, and the Horned Frogs received the opportunity to get destroyed by Georgia. Im 100% confident that the Wolverines would have given Georgia a better game. They were the more talented team, but funny things happen when you put a group of guys mostly in their early 20s on a football field. Every now and then, things dont play out like they , I was against a 12team playoff at first. Like I said, I didnt need to see Indiana lose last night to know theyre not the best team in the nation. If Clemson loses today, it wont break my heart. Im pretty sure theyre not the best team in the nation either. Ive got the Penn State vs. SMU game on right now, and Im 95% certain Penn State isnt the best team, and 100% certain SMU isnt the best team in the nation. If Im Shane Beamer, every interception thrown by the SMU quarterback hes up to three raises my blood pressure another 10 points. Given the choice, Penn State would pick a game against SMU over South Carolina or Alabama, or Ole Miss without hesitation. But because of Clemson, all three are sitting at home. I cant tell you how happy that makes done a good bit of yapping already without mentioning the task at hand The Texas be mistaken, Darrell K Royal Stadium will be packed today. Every fauxhippie trust fund kid, tech bro, and rhinestone cowboy in $3, 000 cowboy boots with lifts within 100 miles of Austin will be in the stands. There will be more people attending the game because they want to be seen attending the game than actual Texas fans. I wasnt upset when Clemson ended up with the 12seed and SMU landed the seed. Id much rather play in a stadium full of barely interested tech bros who started following Texas when they moved to Austin three years ago because theyre embarrassed by Stanford Cardinal football than a stadium full of crazed Penn State fans who dreamed of this moment in their want to romanticize Austin, but the city that spawned rock luminaries like Janis Joplin and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and country music troubadours like Guy Clark https://www.clemsontigersfansshop.com/326-Nolan_Hauser_Jersey , Blaze Foley, and Willie Nelson, is dead. Musicians tend to be poor, and theyve been priced out of the city. Go down to 5th Street tonight, and youll have your choice of brocountry luminaries playing pop music with an autotunegenerated twang. Like Nashville, everything in Austin is packaged for mass consumption and designed to drain the bank accounts of bachelorette parties. Keep Austin Weird was once an ideal the city lived by; now its a marketing slogan plastered on massproduced Texas team is a lot like Austin. Its the best money can buy, but its missing the heart. Theyve got the best facilities, a collection of coaches and consultants that rivals any NFL franchise, and a roster handpicked purchased? to win a National Championship. It all feels cheap. Theres no better representative of the current state of college football than the Longhorns. Theyve destroyed every conference theyve ever joined Id watch out if I were the SEC because theyre not interested in whats good for college football theyre interested in the ego of a select few has a chance to strike a blow for the little guys today. I wont pretend like the Tigers can compete with Texas money, but maybe they can compete with Texas on the football field. At the end of the day, sacks of cash can buy players, but it cant buy wins. The players still have to perform on the field, and thats where things occasionally go astray for the lsquo; not sure if Clemson has what it takes to turn the heat up on Texas today. Odds are they dont; theres a reason the Tigers are a 13point underdog. Keep in mind, though, Clemson playing in this game, at a minimum, is extremely frustrating for a bunch of fan bases that I love to see frustrated. The Tigers are already winners in my book, and they have a chance, albeit slim, to be winners on the field today. Thats something programs like South Carolina https://www.clemsontigersfansshop.com/295-Tristan_Leigh_Jersey , Alabama, and Ole Miss dont get to attempt this season, and its driving them good enough for me.