The College Football Final Four Rankings — Edition #4

1. Clemson: No confirmation as yet that last weekend’s Tiger Walk included several of the Serta Counting Sheep. Consciousness was largely optional in Clemson’s perfunctory 33–13 sleeper over Wake. Like their 1981 championship predecessors, the ’15 Tigers will cap their regular season with a trip to Columbia to face South Carolina. Clemson’s effort 34 years ago was reminiscent of the era, with the Tigers rushing the ball 64 times for 254 yards in their 29–13 win over the Gamecocks. This year, Clemson will clash with a Steve Spurrier-less USC squad that just absorbed a loss to The Citadel.

2. Iowa: Not even at the height of the Hayden Fry regime, which included three Rose Bowl trips in 10 years from 1981–1990, has Iowa City experienced an 11–0 start from the Hawkeyes. UI continues to demonstrate its mastery of ground control, outrushing opponents by more that 100 yards per game. But to further its title hopes, Iowa will have to run through a Nebraska team it’s only beaten once in four tries since the Huskers started Big Ten play in 2011.

3. Notre Dame: The Irish justification for inclusion in the Final Four is pretty simple — their one blemish on the campaign is a two-point road loss to the guys two spots above; the ones having their most memorable season in more than three decades. ND’s offensive output doesn’t exactly wake up the echoes, with its scoring and yardage averages ranking between 29th and 37th nationally. But despite four single-score victory margins, the wins continue to accumulate.

4. Alabama: While the Tide’s annual rivalry with Tennessee is famously dubbed the ‘Third Saturday in October’, the game played a month later has always lacked a similar designation. Given ‘Bama’s scheduling tendencies in recent years, a moniker like ‘FCS-Fest’ would be apropos. The tune-up contest to the Iron Bowl in November’s third week has not involved an FBS foe since 2008. Since then, UA has sullied regional TV screens with matchups the likes of Western Carolina (twice), Chattanooga (twice) and most recently Charleston Southern. It may seem, well, unseemly to reward the Tide for a 50-point win over a Big South Conference opponent, but they have outscored their SEC competition by 20 points per game.