Final Four of Clemson Football’s March Madness Tournament: 2018 Tigers vs. 2019 Tigers
By: will-vandervort April 4, 2020

Here is the second game of the Final Four of Clemson Football’s March Madness Tournament on TCI.

If you need to look at how we got to this point, click on the main post (here) which has an update from every matchup. Twitter poll results are inside each of the stories.

The tournament is hosted on Twitter where Clemson fans can decide who are the best Clemson teams of all-time.

Today (Saturday), we decide who moves on to Monday’s Championship Game.

In the second game of the tournament’s semifinals, the 2018 Tigers take on the 2019 Tigers.

Go to Twitter and vote for which team moves on to the Championship Game.

Below are some facts about each team to help with the voting:

2018 Tigers (15-0): They are arguably the greatest team in college football history. They became the first team in college football since 1897 to record a 15-0.

They won Clemson’s third national championship, second in three years, with a convincing 44-16 victory over a previously undefeated Alabama team in the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship.

The 15-0 season marked Clemson’s sixth undefeated season of all-time.

The 2018 team won a school-record 13 of 15 games by at least 20 points or more. Clemson won all 15 games by an average margin of 31.1 points per game, the best margin in the nation and the second largest in Clemson history.

Clemson became the first team in college football since 2009 to finish in the top 2 in yards per rush and yards per rush allowed. The Tigers ranked second in the nation in yards per rush (6.6) and first in yards per rush allowed (2.5).

The Tigers averaged a then school record 527.2 yards per game on offense, while the defense led the nation in scoring defense, yielding just 13.1 points per game.

Clemson led the nation in sacks with 54, which was also a school record. The Tigers were also tied for the national lead in tackles for loss.

Clemson had seven players earn All-American status in 2018, which was led by a unanimous selection at defensive tackle in Christian Wilkins. Defensive end Clelin Ferrell was a consensus First-Team All-American, along with left tackle Mitch Hyatt on the offensive line.

Running back Travis Etienne, linebacker Tre Lamar, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and cornerback Trayvon Mullen also earned All-American honors.

No. 1 2019 Tigers (14-1): The 2019 Tigers became the third team to win 14 games in a season, tied for the second-best mark in the program’s history.

They finished No. 2 in the nation after losing to LSU in the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship. The loss snapped the Tigers’ 29-game winning streak, which dated back to the start of the 2018 season.

Clemson (7,931) surpassed the 2018 team (7,908) for the most yards in a season in school and ACC history. It’s 3,606 rushing yards passed the 1978 team (3,469) for the second-most in a season in program history.

The Tigers averaged a school record 528.7 yards per game and 43.9 points. Their 6.4 yards per carry led the nation in 2019.

On defense, Clemson allowed 288.3 yards per game, which ranked sixth nationally and just 13.5 points per game, which ranked third nationally. They did not allow a single opponent in the regular season to amass 300 yards of offense.

They also did not allow an opponent to score more than 20 points in any of the first 13 games.

Clemson won a fifth consecutive ACC Championship and advanced to the CFP for a fifth straight year. They beat No. 2 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl to advance to the national championship game.

Linebacker Isaiah Simmons won the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker, was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous All-American. Running back Travis Etienne was named the ACC’s Player of the Year for a second straight season and was named All-American.