COLLEGE FOOTBALL

The 3rd ranked Clemson Tigers are becoming all too familiar with the ins and outs of the College Football Playoff.

As they prepare for the Dec. 28 (8 pm, ESPN) match-up with Ohio State in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, there are more media obligations, more distractions and more opportunities to enjoy the bowl game atmosphere.

What stands out to Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is the playoff games are still football — albeit championship football.

“There’s a lot of distractions,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that come with being a part of this, a lot of things that you have to manage that aren’t in kind of a normal game. But, at the end of the day in championship football, you’re playing teams where there’s just such small margin for error; it’s a few plays. It just comes down to a few plays that make the difference.

“So, you know, you’ve got to have unbelievable precision with what you do to have a chance to be successful.”

While the team on the other sideline is making a return to the playoff after a 1-year hiatus, the 2014 CFP National Champions are familiar with the ins and outs of playoff football — even if their 1st-year head coach is not.

“I mean, I don’t think — the game hasn’t changed,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “It’s just being ready for that moment, and I thought we showed something in the 2nd half that we could overcome a game and just impose our will on teams, and we have to carry that over into this game and show that we can do that and have enough confidence to do that against a team like Clemson.”

“But really, our guys see ourselves as being the best in the country. The moment won’t be too big for our guys. It’s just a matter of keeping our emotions in check and just doing a good job of staying focused.”

Both Day and Swinney agree that the mental aspect of playing championship football at this level will, more than likely, decide who advances to the national championship game against the winner of the other semifinal — LSU or Oklahoma.

The game can be heard on WCOS (1400 AM) and the TuneIn Radio phone app.