If the ACC is to claim a BCS championship for the first time since Florida State in 1999, it'll have to rely on Clemson to do so. The Tigers are ranked fifth in the Week 9 BCS standings, trailing LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma State and Boise State. Here is a full list of the Week 9 BCS standings.
The Tigers do not control their own destiny if they hope to make the BCS title game, but they do still have a chance. If they win out, their strength of schedule could propel them to the top against the winner of the LSU-Alabama showdown in two weeks. SB Nation's bowl projection expert Samuel Chi spells out how Clemson could move up.
Clemson, at No. 5, may be best positioned to make a move. The Tigers have a healthy computer rating (fourth overall), while their remaining schedule is both robust enough to maintain their strength-of-schedule rating and manageable enough that they should be favored to win each game. Clemson will remain ahead of both Stanford and Boise State in the computers if all three win out, so it'll just be a matter of not losing ground in the two human polls.
For now, Chi has Clemson projected to play in the Rose Bowl against Syracuse, the automatic qualifier from the Big East. However, Clemson is not out of the woods yet, with tough games at Georgia Tech next weekend and at South Carolina in the season finale on November 26.
For more on the Tigers, visit Shakin' the Southland.