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Importance of Clemson vs. Appalachian State in Group of Five College Football Playoff race

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh08/28/24griffin_mcveigh
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College Football: Appalachian State fans cheer and celebrate vs James Madison at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Boone, NC 9/24/2022 CREDIT: Carlos M. Saavedra (Photo by Carlos M. Saavedra/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X164171)

A Group of Five program will be in this year’s College Football Playoff, no matter what. Expanding to a 12-team addition means a conference champion will get in and compete for a national championship. Plenty of candidates are out there but Appalachian State feels like they have an opportunity to make some noise.

No bigger chance to cement itself as a CFP contender than Week 2 against the Clemson Tigers. App State will head to Death Valley on Sept. 7 in what will be the biggest matchup on their schedule. On3’s Kaiden Smith sees it as an opportunity nobody else in the G5 will have this season.

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“I think App State might have one of the better opportunities, compared to all these other teams,” Smith said during Wednesday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “Compared to their pedigree and what Clemson might look like this year. There’s some question marks around Cade Klubnik.”

A lot of questions will be answered about Klubnik and Clemson as a whole on Saturday. The Tigers have a massive showdown against Georgia on tap, scheduled for noon ET in Atlanta. Many are expecting Kirby Smart’s team to cover a two-touchdown spread but Clemson can make a statement by taking down the recent two-time national championship.

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But which result would be better for Appalachian State the following week? Smith believes getting Clemson fresh off a fistfight would be the most beneficial in order to pull off an upset.

“What App State fans want to see is a close, physical game,” Smith said. “I think if this game looks like the Clemson-Georgia games of a couple years ago that went really down to the wire… Obviously, they’ll be a little more motivated if they get beat up by Georgia in this matchup. At the end of the day, if (Clemson) is beat up physically, I think that’s what App State fans are going to want more than anything.”

Cincinnati is the lone G5 time to make the CFP in the four-team era, occurring in 2021. The Bearcats had two wins against Power Five opponents, taking down Indiana and most notably, Notre Dame. Winning in South Bend wound up being the difference as Cincinnati finished a spot ahead of Notre Dame in the final Playoff rankings.

Appalachian State will have a clearer path to CFP inclusion than Cincinnati, with a conference championship potentially getting the job done. However, beating Clemson would go a long way and presumably provide the best G5 win we see in college football this year.