Tuesday’s latest College Football Playoff ranking marked a move past the halfway point in the committee’s polling and Clemson maintained its No. 3 spot.
Dabo Swinney’s Tigers trail only new No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 LSU going into a rivalry weekend for teams across the country -- Clemson looking for a second-straight 12-0 start in a noon kickoff at South Carolina on Saturday (ESPN), Ohio State traveling to Michigan (noon, FOX) and LSU hosting Texas A&M (7 p.m./ESPN) before all three participate in conference championship games on Dec. 7.
Elsewhere in the rankings, Virginia Tech joined Clemson in the top-25 from the ACC at No.