Clemson lands high in Phil Steele's surprise teams ranking for 2024 |
Brandon Rink
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- Tuesday, June 25 2024
Will Clemson surprise in 2024?
College football pundit Phil Steele thinks so. Steele has Clemson at No. 2 in his surprise teams rankings for the upcoming season ($ digital magazine link), with Utah topping the group. Steele defines a surprise team as one out of his projected preseason AP Top 10 that can challenge for the Playoff and national title. 247Sports offered its thoughts on the Tigers' inclusion this week. "Coming out of spring, the hype seemed to simmer on Clemson — just the way Dabo Swinney likes it. There's no doubt most preseason prognosticators are not picking the Tigers to reach the playoff this season," 247Sports' Brad Crawford said. "Clemson gets running back Phil Mafah back, but the Tigers are going to have to manufacture production elsewhere in the run game to take some of the pressure off Cade Klubnik, who's back for his second season as the Tigers' QB1. Clemson's defense should be one of the nation's best and there are several true freshmen set to star on both sides." The ACC lines the Top 10 surprise teams for Steele with Florida State in the third slot, Miami at No. 5, Virginia Tech at No. 9 and SMU at No. 10. Clemson plays half of that group in the regular season and travels to both, with FSU in October (Oct. 5) and Virginia Tech in November (Nov. 9). He believes the AP Top 10 vote will be all SEC and Big Ten except for Notre Dame at No. 6. Clemson is seeking its first College Football Playoff appearance since 2020 and a seventh overall for the program since the CFP started in 2014. This year's field is expanded to 12 teams, with the Top 5 ranked conference champions earning an automatic bid (Top 4 taking the Top 4 seeds).
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