Clemson Tigers Fall in Latest AP Poll After LSU Loss

After a preseason Top 5 selection in the opening week, the Clemson Tigers will remain in the top 10 despite the loss.

Clemson players enter the field from the locker room before the game with Clemson and Louisiana State University at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C. Saturday, August 30, 2025. | Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network South Carolina / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers fell to No. 8 in the latest AP Top 25 poll that was released on Tuesday afternoon.

Previously, the team was ranked No. 4 in the country in the preseason rankings, marking the first time that Clemson had been in the Top 5 since 2022. However, with the home loss to LSU last Saturday night, the move down four spots.

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LSU is now ranked No. 3 in the country, being closely behind Ohio State and Penn State, respectively, for the top two spots.

There were two other teams in the preseason Top 10 with Clemson that lost in the opening week of college football: Texas and Notre Dame. The Tigers are sandwiched in between the Longhorns and Fighting Irish at No. 7 and No. 9., respectively. Both those teams also faced top 10 opponents this past weekend.

Despite the loss, head coach Dabo Swinney feels better that he played a top 10 team than an unranked opponent that could've ended in a blowout.

“I’ve got a lot of confirmation on who our football team is, and I’d rather have this feeling in this situation than if we’d won 50-3 against somebody,” he said. “I got a lot more confirmation on who our team is and what they’re going to be. Not what they can be, but what they’re going to be.”

Newly added defensive coordinator Tom Allen brought a defense of tenacity, only holding LSU to 17 points and forcing two turnovers in the first half. It kept the team in the game, who were in it until Clemson's final play on offense: a fourth down in LSU territory that was blown up by linebacker Harold Perkins Jr.

Inversely, it was the offense, which returned 85% of its production, that ended up being the team's weakness in the loss. The team only recorded 31 rushing yards on 20 attempts and struggled to get things going in the passing game, only recording one touchdown in the loss.

Quarterback Cade Klubnik has seen better days as a passer, throwing for 230 yards and an interception while completing only 50% of his passes. He will look to finish shaking off the rust ahead of the team's home matchup against Troy on Saturday afternoon.

“So, we’ve got to clean some things up," Swinney said, "we need to grow our team, we need to really develop and take a really big jump forward in this game."