The good news and bad news about Clemson’s blowout of Alabama.

I sure hope everyone understands why Dabo Swinney replaced Kelly Bryant with true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence after four games of the season. Swinney knew his team could not beat the No. 1 Crimson Tide without an explosive offense it lacked in 2017.

Could Clemson win the ACC championship again with Bryant? Of course. But Alabama had become the measuring stick, and with the Tigers’ 44-16 romp over the Tide, their unprecedented 15-0 record, their 55th win over the last four seasons and their second CFP championship win over Alabama in three years, they have officially and unofficially become the No. 1 college football program in America.

The good news is that Clemson making the college football Final Four again means another million dollars or so from post-season revenue for UNC and every other school in the ACC, which after the bowl teams are paid expenses off the top split the rest among 14 schools. The bad news is Clemson gets the highest of the payout to fund its program and facilities, which are already like a Death Valley version of Disney World.

Good news is Clemson plays here next season and with the way the Paw fans travel it will be a sellout crowd in Kenan for sure. The bad news is Mack Brown has to face a program that is even better than Florida State was in his first stint in Chapel Hill. Against a 5-star team filled with underclassmen led by the 6-6 Lawrence, what chance do the Tar Heels – or anyone in the ACC – have to win such a game?

Good news is for the ACC Coastal, which at least gets to produce a champion to play Clemson for the conference title. Bad news, it is more likely to be closer to the 7-5 Pitt team this season than a true contender.  Since Carolina’s contentious 35-27 loss in Charlotte in 2015, no Coastal team has been close to Clemson for the ACC championship.

Good news is that Swinney is the new king of college football, with four straight playoff appearances and two national championships, which will by extension boost the ACC’s football reputation. Bad news is that Alabama will likely offer Swinney a blank check to coach his alma mater when 67-year-old Nick Saban retires.

Or is that good news?

Featured image via Ben Margot/AP Photo

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Bailing Out
Roy Williams probably had reasons for the soft statements. Carolina fans reacted strongly to the video of a team party after the win over Duke. Only Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe were in the video, but a statement from players and managers said it was supposed to be a closed event that other students and […]
Chansky's Notebook: Please, Go In!
UNC men's basketball faces what is an early season must-win at Georgia Tech. Art Chansky says a look at the statistics is painful, but not terminal.
Chansky's Notebook: Leaky Steps Up
Dean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win. The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter. If he was […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rock(et) Star
Ben Kiernan was UNC’s MVP of the Notre Dame game. When Mack Brown went over the 31-17 loss, he gave mixed reviews to the two main branches of his Tar Heels’ play. He said the offense was good in the first half and then “went dead” in a scoreless second half. He praised the Tar […]
Chansky's Notebook: Goals and Ambitions
Garrison Brooks has both opportunity and pressure. On paper, the ACC looks as weak as it has been in some time due to widespread losses to graduation and early departures to the NBA, and no sure-shot superstars in the incoming recruiting classes. A beneficiary of this development is Brooks, the Carolina senior who was second-team All-ACC last year and earned the league’s […]
Chansky's Notebook: A COVID Debate
Clemson was livid that Florida State wouldn’t play the game. Let’s be lawyers, and make a case for each of the teams that did not play its scheduled game over the weekend. Clemson had traveled to Florida State when it learned a player with mild symptoms who had practiced with the team all week tested […]
Chansky's Notebook: Draft Dodgers
Carolina and Duke players have lost ground in the NBA draft. Like everything else with sports in the COVID era, the NBA draft goes off tonight after being postponed for five months. And if you look at the various mock draft boards, certain things jump off your screen. First of all, about half the names […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Two-Thirds Bet?
What if Phil Mickelson and Mack Brown amended their bet? With the Masters being moved back to this weekend due to COVID, perhaps the three-time champion should revisit the fun bet he made with Carolina’s football coach back in 2003. The famed lefthander was still seeking his first Green Jacket when he partnered with the Texas football coach at the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kudos To Carolina
UNC teams did a commendable job beating the odds. Who among us thought the ACC would be playing football and other fall sports last summer? With the pandemic upon us and the medical experts still learning, the seasons looked like a long shot. While other conferences pumped the breaks and/or called off football, the ACC […]
Chansky's Notebook: Extra Motivation
Carolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage. When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle. Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a […]
›