It was surprising to some to see the reigning national champion Clemson Tigers slotted at No. 5 on Tuesday when the College Football Playoff Rankings were released. Clemson clearly needs to make some statements ti impress the CFP Selection Committee, and that will begin on Saturday as the Tigers go on the road to take on NC State. Making a statement may not be all that easy for Clemson, however, as Carter-Finlay Stadium has given some top teams fits over the years.
It has been a while since it's happened to Clemson, though, as the Tigers have dominated this series. They have not lost to NC State in Raleigh since a 37-13 loss in 2011. Swinney was in his third season with the Tigers then, and he hasn't lost to the Wolfpack since. Clemson has won seven straight against NC State including 14 of the last 15 meetings. That's helped Clemson extend its overall lead in the series to 58-28-1.
Let's take a closer look at the showdown in Death Valley and what to expect when Clemson and NC State link up on Saturday night.
Viewing information
Date: Saturday, Nov. 9 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Carter-Finley Stadium -- Raleigh, North Carolina
TV: ABC | Live stream: WatchESPN.com
Storylines
Clemson: While plenty of people were surprised to see a No. 5 next to Clemson in the first College Football Playoff Rankings, you can bet Swinney is thrilled about it. Coaches of defending champions don't often get the chance to play the "nobody believes in us card," but that's precisely the weapon the CFP Selection Committee has handed Dabo. You know he's going to play it, and everybody else knows the No. 5 ranking doesn't mean a whole lot right now. Ohio State will play Penn State later this month, and Alabama and LSU -- the four teams above Clemson -- play this weekend. As long as the Tigers get past NC State, they'll be in the top four next week. And that's what matters to this team: winning in Raleigh. Everything else will take care of itself, but in a down year for every team in the ACC not named Clemson, the Tigers know they can't afford a loss.
NC State: The 2019 season has not lived up to the success NC State has seen recently. This is a team that went 18-8 the last two years, finishing each season with four losses. It already has four losses as it prepares to play Clemson this week, as well as only four wins to go with it. The Wolfpack are 1-3 in conference play, with their lone win coming against Syracuse. All three of those losses have come on the road, however, as did the nonconference loss to West Virginia. NC State is 4-0 at Carter-Finley this year, and would love nothing more than to improve to 5-0. After all, the best way to soothe the pain of a disappointing season would be to pull off a major upset and possibly ruin somebody else's.
Game prediction, picks
When the spread for this game originally came out, I was very much on the side of NC State. My logic was that it was entirely too many points for a conference game, and as mentioned above, NC State has been a lot better at home than on the road. But then the CFP Rankings came out and Clemson was at No. 5. Now I'm convinced that Swinney and Clemson will do everything in their power to make a point on Saturday, and they'll likely cover the spread in the process. Pick: Clemson (-30.5)
So what picks can you make with confidence in Week 11? And which line is way off, making it a must-back? Visit SportsLine to see which college football teams win and cover the spread, all from a proven computer model that has returned over $4,000 in profit over the past four seasons.
