Clemson makes its 2023 USA TODAY Coaches preseason Top 25 debut

Brandon Rink · Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer · Monday, August 07 2023

Clemson made its 2023 preseason poll debut with the USA TODAY Coaches Top 25 on Monday.

The Tigers will start at No. 9 there, which despite being the ACC media favorite, is a spot behind Florida State.

Clemson hasn’t been ranked out of the Top 5 preseason for the Coaches since 2015 (No. 12).

Dabo Swinney’s Tigers outperformed their Coaches ranking each season from 2012-18, before two seasons as the preseason No. 1 (2019 and 2020) and then falling much further below expectations in the last two campaigns.

Georgia leads the poll with 61 of the 66 first-place votes, followed by Michigan (0), Alabama (4), Ohio State (1) and LSU in the Top 5.

Top 25 teams on Clemson's schedule also include Notre Dame (No. 13) and North Carolina (No. 20).

USA TODAY Preseason Top 25

Rank Team Record Pts 1st Prev Chg Hi/lo

1 Georgia 0-0 1643 61 NR — 1/1

2 Michigan 0-0 1510 0 NR — 2/2

3 Alabama 0-0 1489 4 NR — 3/3

4 Ohio State 0-0 1485 1 NR — 4/4

5 Louisiana State 0-0 1294 0 NR — 5/5

6 Southern California 0-0 1228 0 NR — 6/6

7 Penn State 0-0 1181 0 NR — 7/7

8 Florida State 0-0 1145 0 NR — 8/8

9 Clemson 0-0 1078 0 NR — 9/9

10 Tennessee 0-0 991 0 NR — 10/10

11 Washington 0-0 941 0 NR — 11/11

12 Texas 0-0 848 0 NR — 12/12

13 Notre Dame 0-0 841 0 NR — 13/13

14 Utah 0-0 839 0 NR — 14/14

15 Oregon 0-0 820 0 NR — 15/15

16 Texas Christian 0-0 655 0 NR — 16/16

17 Kansas State 0-0 440 0 NR — 17/17

18 Oregon State 0-0 365 0 NR — 18/18

19 Oklahoma 0-0 320 0 NR — 19/19

20 North Carolina 0-0 315 0 NR — 20/20

21 Wisconsin 0-0 309 0 NR — 21/21

22 Mississippi 0-0 303 0 NR — 22/22

23 Tulane 0-0 225 0 NR — 23/23

24 Texas Tech 0-0 200 0 NR — 24/24

25 Texas A&M 0-0 196 0 NR — 25/25

Others rec. votes: Iowa 169; South Carolina 89; Florida 63; Texas-San Antonio 59; Pittsburgh 52; UCLA 42; Kentucky 34; Baylor 28; Troy 25; Arkansas 20; NC State 19; Fresno State 19; Boise State 18; Auburn 18; Minnesota 16; Miami 16; Mississippi State 13; Oklahoma State 12; Missouri 11; Maryland 10; Southern Methodist 8; South Alabama 8; Illinois 7; Wake Forest 6; Air Force 6; Toledo 5; Washington State 4; Houston 3; Duke 2; Brigham Young 2; Arizona 2; Memphis 1; Kansas 1; James Madison 1.

The USA TODAY Sports AFCA Board of Coaches for the 2023 season: Tim Albin, Ohio; Blake Anderson, Utah State; Dino Babers, Syracuse; Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina; Terry Bowden, Louisiana-Monroe; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Neal Brown, West Virginia; Kenni Burns, Kent State; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jason Candle, Toledo; Curt Cignetti, James Madison; Dave Clawson, Wake Forest; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Washington; Jake Dickert, Washington State; Dana Dimel, Texas-El Paso; Stan Drayton, Temple; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Sonny Dykes, TCU; Mike Elko, Duke; Shawn Elliott, Georgia Southern; Jedd Fisch, Arizona; Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M; James Franklin, Penn State; Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame; Hugh Freeze, Auburn; Willie Fritz, Tulane; Alex Golesh, South Florida; Danny Gonzales, New Mexico; Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State; Will Hall, Southern Mississippi; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Tom Herman, Florida Atlantic; Brady Hoke, San Diego State; Dana Holgorsen; Houston; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Mike Locksley, Maryland; Mike MacIntyre, Florida International; Gus Malzahn, Central Florida; Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio); Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Jeff Monken, Army; Jim Mora, Connecticut; Billy Napier, Florida; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Brian Newberry, Navy; Barry Odom, UNLV; Brent Pry, Virginia Tech; Matt Rhule, Nebraska; Nick Saban, Alabama; Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Mark Stoops, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Troy; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Tedford, Fresno State; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio; Mel Tucker, Michigan State; Kyle Whittingham, Utah, Ken Wilson, Nevada; Kevin Wilson, Tulsa.

Clemson's Coaches preseason rankings since 2012 (finishes)

2023: 9 (TBD)

2022: 4 (12)

2021: 2 (16)

2020: 1 (3)

2019: 1 (2)

2018: 2 (1)

2017: 5 (4)

2016: 2 (1)

2015: 12 (2)

2014: 16 (15)

2013: 8 (7)