A big season for the Tigers could mean playing Atlanta three different times

CLEMSON — If Clemson has the kind of year the coaches, players and fans are looking for, the Tigers could end up playing Atlanta three times this season.

The Tigers will open the season next week at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta against top-ranked Georgia in the Aflac opener. The game kicks off at noon and will air on ABC. The Atlanta stop is the first of three potential visits to Mercedes-Benz this season, according to Kickoff CEO Gary Stokan, who appeared on the Orange Crush podcast this week.

Stokan says it all depends on whether Clemson can win the ACC Championship and secure a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

“I think looking at the CFP selection committee and the playoffs, the way they’re set up, you remember there’s still two years left of the original 12-year contract where the Rose Bowl still has contracts with the Big 10,” Stokan said. “The Pac-12, as we know, is no longer in business. The Sugar Bowl still has a contract with the SEC and the Big 12. So if you look at the top four conference champions that get automatic byes — those will come from the Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big 10. The Big 10 champions will go to the Rose Bowl, and the highest-seeded champion between the SEC and Big 12 will go to the Sugar Bowl.”

“Let’s say the SEC, if you take the preseason, Georgia is No. 1, let’s say they win the SEC, they go to the Sugar Bowl, the winner of the Big 12, let’s say it’s Utah: Utah goes to the Fiesta Bowl and then the ACC Champion, because the Orange Bowl has the semifinal, that’s where the ACC has their contract. They become, so to speak, free agents. They come to Atlanta and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. So I think that’s how you’re going to see it play out.”

The top four ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and will receive a bye into the first round. The fifth ranked conference champion will be seeded where they were seeded or 12th if they are not ranked in the top 12. Non-conference champions ranked in the top 4 will be seeded from 5th. For this reason, the seeding, 1 through 12, may differ from the final standings.

The eight teams ranked 5th through 12th will play in a first-round series, with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at alternate sites designated by the higher-ranked institution (12th through 5th, 11th through 6th, 10th through 7th, and 9th through 8th).

The selection committee will assign the four highest-seeded conference champions to the quarterfinals of the playoffs hosted by bowls. This will be done by considering historical relationships between bowls and then taking into account seeding. For example, if the Sugar Bowl hosts a playoff quarterfinal and the SEC champion is ranked No. 1 and the Big 12 champion is ranked No. 3, the SEC champion will be assigned to the Sugar Bowl and the Big 12 champion will be assigned elsewhere.

With the four highest-seeded conference champions assigned to bowls, their four playoff quarterfinal opponents will be dictated by the bracket (i.e., No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 winner, No. 4 vs. No. 5/12 winner, No. 2 vs. No. 7/10 winner; No. 3 vs. No. 6/11 winner.)

“It’s an opportunity for Clemson if they win the ACC to come back to Atlanta and play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl,” Stokan said. “And then if they win against the first-round opponent, they’ll either move on to the Orange Bowl or the Cotton Bowl. The one thing people have to remember is once the brackets are set, they’re not going to change them. So in other words, if you had Michigan, Ohio State, they’re not going to change those two because they played in the regular season. If that’s where they’re scheduled to play, then they play that game again and move up the bracket.”

The national championship game will be played on Monday, January 20 in Atlanta, which means the Tigers could play at Mercedes-Benz for a third time this season. Interestingly, Georgia could play there four times since the SEC Championship Game is held there in early December.

But for the Tigers, playing three times in Atlanta means it’s been a good season.