Clemson's Dabo Swinney: Power 5 Postponements Won't Diminish 2020 Title

It remains to be seen how the College Football Playoff will work this season, with two Power Five conferences—the Big Ten and Pac-12—postponing their fall seasons Tuesday.

But Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney doesn't believe a 2020 title would be any less meaningful without those conferences in play, per Sam Khan Jr. of ESPN:

"Whoever wins it, wins it. That's the champ. It's the same way in every sport. ... Somebody is gonna win a championship, so maybe it's a shortened season, maybe it's not as many teams or whatever. But you best believe whoever wins it is gonna have to earn it. Nobody's gonna give nothing to nobody, so you can only control what you control. We just hope we can have the opportunity to play."

Swinney also said:

"The four best teams can go play. We've been one of those four for five years in a row. So, in my opinion, it doesn't change anything for us. We're just trying to be the best Clemson we can be. Whoever you play every week, you try to win that game, you try to keep moving forward. We don't have any control over that stuff. And I certainly don't judge them in any way. Everybody's gotta make decisions that they feel is best. If they feel like that's what best for them, then so be it."

Along with five straight berths in the College Football Playoff, Clemson has won two national championships and played in the title game four times, including last year's 42-25 loss against Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow and LSU.

Led by star quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the Tigers will be among the favorites to win a title whenever a playoff is held. And Swinney has emerged as one of college football's best coaches, going 130-31 since taking over as the Tigers head coach in 2009.

The ACC, at this juncture, is moving ahead with plans to play in the fall amid the COVID-19 pandemic, joining the SEC and Big 12. The Mountain West and Mid-American conferences also postponed their fall schedules, though the conferences that have postponed the fall schedule have kept open the possibility of playing football in the spring.