Is Clemson a college football blue blood?

Ask any objective college football fan to name a list of the sport’s blue blood programs and they’ll invariably mention the likes of Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Southern Cal for starters.

But what about Clemson? Do the Tigers qualify as a blue blood program? After all, they won two national championships in three seasons and played for two more between 2015-19. The school also won the national championship in 1981 under coach Danny Ford, the first team to win a title in any sport in Clemson athletic history.

Determining which schools are true blue blood programs is something that veteran college football analyst Andy Staples set out to do this week. In a column for On3, Staples defines a blue blood as a program with three-plus generations of elite history — one of which has to be in the last two generations. He adds that a program has to have also won a national championship. That excludes Oregon, a recent power player in the sport.

Using that formula, Staples listed nine programs as current bonafide blue bloods: Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, Southern Cal and Penn State.

As for Clemson, the Tigers rank just below the blue blood threshold — one of nine schools Staples labels as “blue blood contenders.” On that list, Clemson appears alongside ACC rivals Florida State and Miami, as well as LSU, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn from the SEC. Nebraska and Oregon also made the list.

Staples says of Clemson:

“The Danny Ford era provided the first national title. The Dabo Swinney era proved a program could rise back into the ranks of the elite after some middling years. Clemson just needs that third generation of dominance. That could happen after Swinney retires. Or maybe it could happen if he adjusts his roster management strategy for the transfer portal…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/clemson-college-football-blue-blood-201925593.html

Author : Clemson Wire

Publish date : 2024-07-09 20:19:25

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