Clemson Tigers Receive Lofty Way-Too-Early Ranking for Upcoming Football Season

The Clemson Tigers ended the 2024 college football season right where they began it; in the top 25.

They entered the season ranked No. 14 in the country before losing to the Georgia Bulldogs in an ugly fashion during their opener. A six-game winning streak followed, which helped keep them inside the rankings.

Two more losses, to the Louisville Cardinals and South Carolina Gamecocks, looked to have ended their ACC championship and College Football Playoff hopes, but they received some much-needed help from the Syracuse Orange to knock off the Miami Hurricanes in the final week of the season to earn a spot in the title game.

There they defeated the SMU Mustangs, punching their ticket to the playoff as the ACC champs.

Their stay wasn’t long, as the Texas Longhorns defeated them in the first round, 38-24, which resulted in them finishing at No. 14 in the final AP Poll.

It was certainly an odd ranking, as the Mustangs, who were also defeated in the first round of the College Football Playoff and had lost to the Tigers just weeks prior, finished ahead of them at No. 12.

Now that the 2024 campaign is officially over, attention is already flipping to the 2025 season.

Way-too-early top 25 rankings are already being released, and Clemson fans will be happy about where their team is.

Over at Sports Illustrated, Bryan Fischer, Mike McDaniel, Pat Forde and Zach Koons put together their top 25.

Dabo Swinney’s crew is projected to be amongst the best teams in the nation, earning the No. 6 spot.

“For several years, it felt like the Tigers were fading away from their former dominant status. Now they might be on the way back, with more reasons for optimism than at any time in a while. They’re coming off an ACC championship game and playoff appearance; quarterback Cade Klubnik leads a nucleus of veterans who decided to stay in school (and at Clemson); Dabo Swinney swiped defensive coordinator Tom Allen from Penn State; and Old School Dabo even dipped into the transfer portal to grab three players who could make an immediate impact. Clemson definitely looks like the team to beat in the ACC again, but if the Tigers beat LSU in the season opener at home they will have a great start on an at-large playoff berth.”

The only programs ahead of them are Texas, the Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Oregon Ducks.

All five of those teams participated in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, with Ohio State and Notre Dame playing in the championship game where the Buckeyes emerged victorious, 34-23.

As the analysts noted, there is a lot of talent returning for Swinney in 2025, making the expectations high.

The ACC will present some challenges again, as five other teams from the conference also find themselves in the way-too-early rankings.

Miami is ranked No. 10, Louisville is No. 17, SMU is ranked No. 19, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are No. 20 and the North Carolina Tar Heels are No. 21.