It seems Dabo Swinney can’t catch a break from national pundits.
At his annual preseason media event at the Allen Reeves Football Complex this week, Swinney spoke of what he sees as potential “unintended consequences” of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
One particular scenario the Tigers’ coach mentioned was whether teams might potentially rest players for rivalry games at the end of the regular season because of playoff implications.
Swinney used the NFL playoffs as an example and referenced the Baltimore Ravens’ decision to rest star quarterback Lamar Jackson in their Week 18 contest vs. the Steelers. The Steelers defeated an otherwise superior Ravens team in a game that was ultimately meaningless to Baltimore’s standing in the AFC playoff picture.
Swinney predicted the same thing would likely happen at some point in college football going forward.
“Maybe you’re 11-0 and you’ve got that rivalry game, but you play your biggest foe next week in the conference championship, and if you win that game, you’re gonna get a bye,” Swinney said. “Those are decisions you’ll probably see play out all throughout college football.”
As if on cue, ESPN analyst Paul (#NeverDabo) Finebaum pounced on Swinney’s remarks and called them “dumb.” “Your goal isn’t to find problems with this system. Your goal is to get back in the playoff — some place you haven’t been in a while,” Finebaum said.
A day later, Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd chirped in and blasted Swinney for his comments, as well. Cowherd said that Swinney would have to develop an “adapt or die” approach.
Just one question, though. What if Dabo Swinney is actually right in his concerns about this particular unintended consequence?
I’m not talking about Swinney’s well-documented resistance to the transfer portal and his past statements on NIL. Those are valid but separate criticisms of the Tigers’ coach. But the pushback Swinney received this week was more for what he said about the playoff impacting rivalry games that matter to every diehard fan.
To me, Swinney’s concern is valid.
While getting to the College Football Playoff is the goal for every elite Power Four program, would Clemson fans just gladly accept the Tigers losing to South Carolina — all in order to rest for a conference championship matchup they’re not guaranteed to win?
Would Alabama fans accept losses to Auburn in a similar scenario? Would Michigan fans if Ohio State starts winning The Game again?
And what if losing back-to-back games in November/December causes a team to miss the playoff entirely? That would add insult to injury, especially if one of the losses could have been avoided.
Conversely, would fans of South Carolina or other schools fully appreciate a win over their end-of-year rivals when said rival essentially waved a white flag? Wouldn’t such a win feel somewhat cheapened?
Perhaps not, but I don’t recall seeing any victory shirts or hats for Steelers fans to throw money at after beating the Ravens in the game Swinney alluded to.
There are many different variables that could pop up as a result of the 12-team playoff. Winning a championship is the ultimate dream, of course, but teams taking a laissez-faire approach to rivalry games on the final weekend of the regular season, like in the NFL, isn’t something many fans are ready to embrace quite yet — even if Finebaum, Cowherd and other pundits seem eager to.
During his comments tearing into Swinney, Finebaum said of the Clemson coach: “What happened to you? You used to be a voice of reason in college football.”
What if Swinney still is, only not enough people are listening?
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