Four times in the 84-year history of The Associated Press college football poll, there has been a tie for No. 1, and not since Aug. 26, 2002.
If a single voter who placed Clemson No. 1 and Alabama No. 2 on Sunday had instead flipped the Tigers and Crimson Tide, the Top 25 would have had tie No. 5.
Alas, a chance for an odd piece of poll history was missed. Clemson stayed No. 1 and Alabama stayed No. 2, but they were separated by a mere two points.
Some voters dinged the Tigers for needing a full 60 minutes to put away Boston College on Saturday. Maybe a little harsh considering Clemson’s 18-point comeback was led by freshman quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, making his first career start with star Trevor Lawrence out with COVID-19.
Lawrence will not play next week, either, when the Tigers go to No. 4 Notre Dame. You never know for sure how these things might go, but if Clemson beats the Fighting Irish with its No. 2 quarterback — even if the No. 2 QB is likely a future first-round NFL pick — it’s a good bet Clemson will lure back some of those who switched to Alabama this week.
Especially with the Crimson Tide off and No. 3 Ohio State hosting Rutgers.
Could also be interesting to see how voters react to a loss by Clemson to a really good team on the road with its backup QB. There’s a chance that could be impressive, too.
For this week, Reality Check agreed with the ever so slight consensus that left Clemson on top of the poll this week. There has never been a three-way tie at No. 1 in poll history, but Reality Check sees Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State as 1a, b and c.