Swinney Defends Nonconference Slate, Says ACC Atlantic 'Absolutely' One of Toughest Divisions In Country

While the ACC has no doubt had some down years in the past, that doesn't appear to be the case in 2022. At least through the season's first four weeks.

Currently, five ACC teams are ranked inside the Top 25, with four of those programs residing in the Atlantic Division, highlighted by Clemson and NC State, both of which are in the Top 10.

The No. 5 Tigers and No. 10 Wolfpack are now set to do battle on Saturday night inside of Death Valley, in what is the biggest college football game of the weekend. It will mark the first time in the long, storied history of the Textile Bowk that the two teams will square off with both ranked inside of the Top 10.

On Tuesday, Dabo Swinney was asked about the strength of the Atlantic this season and the head coach made his feelings clear, insisting some of the nation's best quarterbacks reside in the ACC, including NC State's Devin Leary, who the Tigers will see this weekend.

"Absolutely," Swinney responded when asked about the strength of the division. "Our league, and our division for sure, I think, and I haven't seen everybody so it's hard to really, truly gauge and comment on it, but I know this, our league is strong and our division, it's gonna be a battle every single week". 

"Every single week with these quarterbacks. Because everybody's got a quarterback and when you got a quarterback, you got a chance. There's no doubt about it. A bunch of guys that have a chance to play this game for quite a while in our league. So it's exciting. I mean, it. And again, you're gonna see one of them this week. This kid can really play." 

Swinney also went on record defending the Tigers' out-of-conference slate. Since Swinney's been at the helm, Clemson has always scheduled 10 teams from inside of the Power-5. Many of those years have seen Clemson play two SEC teams, while others, including this season, have seen the Tigers face Notre Dame, plus the in-state rival South Carolina Gamecocks.

"I don't know why people talk about our nonconference (schedule), Swinney said. "You know, we've played 10 Power-5 (games) forever around here. We've played some of the best of the best for a long time. For as long as I can remember."

"So we play 10, and a lot of people don't. A lot of people play like eight and then they play a bunch of smaller levels. But we've always played a tough schedule."

Generally, out-of-conference games are scheduled years in advance, and there are times when a team on the schedule isn't quite as good as expected. However, going on the road and facing a program like Notre Dame is never easy, and Dabo Swinney and Clemson tend to schedule out-of-conference games as aggressively as any program in the nation. 

"If somebody's not having a good year, I mean, you can't do anything about it," Swinney said. "I mean, we're playing Notre Dame. You're playing South Carolina, you go to Notre Dame, South Carolina's in the SEC, an SEC opponent, in a rivalry game, I mean, that's a great out-of-conference."

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