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Miami Gardens, Fla. • With shiny orange confetti stuck to his sweat-soaked face as the celebration after the Orange Bowl rolled along, Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware knew the time was right to make a bold statement.
"We can be the best team ever," Boulware shouted.
Best team ever? Well, that would be debatable.
Best record ever? That's within Clemson's reach.
As if playing for the national championship wasn't enough motivation, No. 1 Clemson (14-0) will be vying for a piece of college football history when it meets No. 2 Alabama (13-1) in Glendale, Arizona on Jan. 11 in the title game. No FBS team has ever finished 15-0, and being the first to get there has been a goal for Clemson since the team convened for training camp last summer.
"August 3rd, when we started the season, I gave them shirts that said 'Dream the Dream,'" Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "And I said '15 for 15,' with the message being let's make them print 15 tickets this year, somehow, some way.
"My gosh, they've got to print a 15th ticket to see the Tigers now," Swinney added. "It's been a great 2015."
If they keep the greatness going into the first game of 2016, it would be historic.
Granted, the notion of best-record-ever meaning best-team-ever won't be unanimously accepted. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes, the 1971 Nebraska Cornhuskers, the 1974 Oklahoma Sooners — among others — would probably disagree.
And only a handful of teams have even had the chance to play 15 games, with longer regular seasons, conference title games and now a four-team College Football Playoff stretching schedules out more than ever before.
Winning the national title and going 15-0 would be obviously a huge boost to the Tigers, but it would also be a major moment for the Atlantic Coast Conference as well.
Clemson is 32 passing yards away from becoming the ninth team to manage 4,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards in the same season. They've outgained opponents by 2,946 yards — roughly 1.7 miles — this season. Quarterback Deshaun Watson is the third player in FBS history with 3,500 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in the same year, and he's doing that while running back Wayne Gallman set a school record for rushing. Date Bowl/SITE MatchuP
Dec. 19 Celebration Bowl at Atlanta North Carolina A&T 41, Alcorn State 34
Dec. 19 New Mexico Bowl at Albuquerque Arizona 45, New Mexico 37
Dec. 19 Las Vegas Bowl Utah 35, BYU 28
Dec. 19 Camellia Bowl at Montgomery, Ala. Appalachian State 31, Ohio 29
Dec. 19 Cure Bowl at Orlando, Fla. San Jose State 27, Georgia St. 16
Dec. 19 New Orleans Bowl Louisiana Tech 47, Arkansas State 28
Dec. 21 Miami Beach Bowl Western Kentucky 45, South Florida 35
Dec. 22 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at Boise Akron 23, Utah State 21
Dec. 22 Boca Raton (Fla.) Bowl Toledo 32, Temple 17
Dec. 23 Poinsettia Bowl at San Diego Boise State 55, Northern Illinois 7
Dec. 23 GoDaddy Bowl at Mobile, Ala. Georgia Southern 58, Bowling Green 27
Dec. 24 Bahamas Bowl at Nassau Western Michigan 45, Middle Tennessee 31
Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl at Honolulu San Diego St. 42, Cincinnati 7
Dec. 26 St. Petersburg (Fla.) Bowl Marshall 16, UConn 10
Dec. 26 Sun Bowl at El Paso, Texas Washington State 20, Miami 14
Dec. 26 Heart of Dallas Bowl Washington 44, Southern Miss. 31
Dec. 26 Pinstripe Bowl at Bronx, N.Y. Duke 44, Indiana 41
Dec. 26 Independence Bowl at Shreveport, La. Virginia Tech 55, Tulsa 52
Dec. 26 Foster Farms Bowl at Santa Clara, Calif. Nebraska 37, UCLA 29
Dec. 28 Military Bowl at Annapolis, Md. Navy 44, Pittsburgh 28
Dec. 28 Quick Lane Bowl at Detroit Minnesota 21, Central Michigan 14
Dec. 29 Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth California 55, Air Force 36
Dec. 29 Russell Athletic Bowl at Orlando, Fla. Baylor 49, North Carolina 38
Dec. 29 Arizona Bowl at Tucson Nevada 28, Colorado State 23
Dec. 29 Texas Bowl at Houston LSU 56, Texas Tech 27
Dec. 30 Birmingham (Ala.) Bowl Auburn 31, Memphis 10
Dec. 30 Belk Bowl at Charlotte, N.C. Mississippi St. 51, NC State 28
Dec. 30 Music City Bowl at Nashville, Tenn. Louisville 27, Texas A&M 21
Dec. 30 Holiday Bowl at San Diego Wisconsin 23, USC 21
Dec. 31 Peach Bowl at Atlanta Houston 38, Florida State 24
Dec. 31 Orange Bowl (Playoff Semifinal) Clemson 37, Oklahoma 17
Dec. 31 Cotton Bowl (Playoff Semifinal) Alabama 38, Michigan State 0
Jan. 1 Outback Bowl at Tampa, Fla. Tennessee 45, Northwestern 6
Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl at Orlando, Fla. Michigan 41, Florida 7
Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl at Glendale, Ariz. Ohio State 44, Notre Dame 28
Jan. 1 Rose Bowl at Pasadena, Calif. Stanford 45, Iowa 16
Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl at New Orleans Mississippi 48, Oklahoma State 20
Jan. 2 TaxSlayer Bowl at Jacksonville, Fla. Georgia 24, Penn St. 17
Jan. 2 Liberty Bowl at Memphis, Tenn. Arkansas 45, Kansas St. 23
Jan. 2 Alamo Bowl at San Antonio TCU 47, Oregon 41, 3 OTs
Jan. 2 Cactus Bowl at Phoenix West Virginia vs. Arizona State, late
Jan. 11 CFP Title Game at Glendale, Ariz. Clemson vs. Alabama, 6:30 p.m., ESPN