The 2018 Clemson football team is the best team in the history of college football. There is no argument there.
The Tigers were the first team since the invention of the forward pass to go 15-0 in a season. But they are not the best team because they went 15-0. They’re the best team because of how dominant they were in doing it.
Clemson won 13 of its 15 games by 20 or more points. The Tigers won their 15 games by an average margin of 31.1 points per game, the best in school history. They became the first school in ACC history to beat two conference foes by 60 or more points in the same year.
They won their last 10 games by an average margin of 36.1 points per game and no team came within 20 points of them.
They did not just whip up on ACC competition, either. They were 3-0 against the SEC and also took down Notre Dame along the way. Three of those wins were by 21 or more points, including a 27-point win over the Irish in the Cotton Bowl and a 28-point win over Alabama in the national championship game.
In all, Clemson took down seven undefeated teams in 2018. Notre Dame was 12-0 before the Tigers beat them, while Alabama was 14-0.
Clemson beat four teams—Georgia Southern, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Alabama—that won at least 10 games this year. Those four teams were a combined 46-4 against everyone not named Clemson.
The Tigers beat two 9-win teams in Texas A&M and NC State. They also beat a Duke team that won eight games, as well as six other teams that played in bowl games.
Overall, 12 of Clemson’s 15 opponents played in a postseason bowl game, while 13 of the 15 opponents posted a .500 or winning record, including 12 with winning records.
The Tigers’ 15 opponents posted a 120-57 record against all other competition, a 67.7-win percentage. I guess that shoots down the theory that Clemson did play anyone.
Did I mention that Clemson also had a top 5 scoring offense and a defense that led the nation in scoring defense? The Tigers also had a top 3 offense in terms of total yards and a top 5 defense in terms of yards allowed.
The 2018 Clemson Tigers are the best team of all time. It’s hard to argue against it.
Obviously, at Clemson it is the best team in school history. There is nothing to debate there at all.
However, what teams fall behind it? Is it the 1981 National Champions? Or is it the 2016 National Champions?
To me, it’s easy. It is the 1981 Tigers.
Why?
They went undefeated. It is that simple.
Granted the 2016 team had to play three extra games and to go through and ACC Championship Game and two playoff games to win theirs. However, in the first 12 games they played, which you compare to the 12 games the 1981 team played, they suffered one loss.
Granted the 2016 team was a little bit more talented than the 1981 team, but, to me, losing that one game carries a lot of weight.
The good news for Tiger fans is you can have this debate because Clemson has three national championship teams.
My list of Clemson’s Top 25 greatest teams of all time
- 2018: 15-0 (National Champions)
- 1981: 12-0 (National Champions)
- 2016: 14-1 (National Champions)
- 2015: 14-1 (National Runner-up)
- 1948: 11-0 (SoCon Champions, No. 11 in Final AP Poll)
- 1978: 11-1 (ACC Champions, No. 6 in Final AP Poll)
- 2017: 12-2 (College Football Playoff, No. 4 in Final AP Poll)
- 1950: 9-0-1 (No. 10 in Final AP Poll)
- 1939: 9-1 (No. 12 in Final AP Poll)
- 1900: 6-0 (SIAA Champions)
- 1990: 10-2 (No. 9 in Final AP Poll)
- 1982: 9-1-1 (ACC Champions, No. 8 in Final AP Poll)
- 1988: 10-2 (ACC Champions, No. 9 in Final AP Poll)
- 1987: 10-2 (ACC Champions, No. 12 in Final AP Poll)
- 1989: 10-2 (No. 12 in Final AP Poll)
- 1983: 9-1-1 (No. 11 in Final AP Poll)
- 1991: 9-2-1 (ACC Champions, No. 18 in Final AP Poll)
- 1959: 9-2 (ACC Champions, No. 11 in Final AP Poll)
- 1986: 8-2-2 (ACC Champions, No. 17 in Final AP Poll)
- 1956: 7-2-2 (ACC Champions, No. 19 in Final AP Poll)
- 1958: 8-3 (ACC Champions, No. 12 in Final AP Poll)
- 1977: 8-3-1 (No. 19 in Final AP Poll)
- 1979: 8-4
- 1940: 6-2-1
- 1941: 7-2
Move over Alabama, Clemson is the new King of College Football. In our new magazine “Little Ole Clemson”: The Best “Little” Dynasty Ever, we examine not just the 2018 team’s run to being “the best ever” but examine the last four seasons and how Dabo Swinney turned Clemson into the new dynasty of college football. We also take a look at the role former athletic director Terry Don Phillips played. We go behind the scenes at the Tigers’ run to a second national championship in three seasons and the previous three national championship runs. It also features stories on the Power Rangers, the 2018 senior class, high quality photos and much, much more.
We are pleased to announce that our latest magazine is ready for Preorders. Get your order in today to make sure you get a copy of this collector’s edition.