
Clemson placed highly in early 'way-too-early' rankings |
With plenty of positive news coming out around Clemson football lately, the hype machine is well underway for the 2025 campaign.
It is 'way-too-early' predictions season and the early, way-too-early outlooks have the Tigers all in the preseason Top 7. Longtime college football publication Athlon Sports starts Dabo Swinney's group at No. 7 overall. "Quarterback Cade Klubnik’s return makes Clemson an easy favorite atop the ACC for 2025," Athlon's Steven Lassan said. "Klubnik made massive progress under second-year coordinator Garrett Riley, throwing for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns en route to an ACC championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Running back Phil Mafah is off to the NFL, but Klubnik’s supporting cast remains strong at receiver with Bryant Wesco, T.J. Moore, and Antonio Williams back in ’25. Scoring points shouldn’t be a problem for coach Dabo Swinney’s team, but Clemson has defensive question marks to address this offseason. The Tigers slipped to 16th in the ACC against the run and allowed 5.5 yards a play (the highest mark since 2012). However, the bulk of the main contributors are expected to return for new coordinator Tom Allen, including rising star end T.J. Parker (19.5 tackles for loss in ’24). The schedule includes home dates versus LSU, SMU, Florida State, and Syracuse, with tricky road trips to Georgia Tech and Louisville." The Top 6 group ahead of Clemson is Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, Penn State, Notre Dame and Oregon. Under the current CFP rules, the Tigers would be a projected No. 3 overall seed there with an automatic bid to the Orange Bowl quarterfinal next year. Death Valley opening opponent LSU is No. 9. "Head coach Brian Kelly isn’t on the hot seat, but the 2025 season is critical for the direction of this program after a 9-4 mark in ’24. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier passed on the NFL for another season with the Bayou Bengals, and the staff hit the portal hard for reinforcements at receiver (Nic Anderson and Barion Brown) and the offensive line (Josh Thompson and Braelin Moore) to keep the offense (30.5 points a game in ’24) near the top of the SEC. But for the Tigers to push for a trip to the conference title game, the defense needs to take a big step forward in coordinator Blake Baker’s second year. LSU has room to improve after giving up 5.9 yards a play in ’24 and struggling to stop the run (12th in the SEC). Similar to the offense, Kelly is bringing in a handful of transfers to solidify the defense. Also, the return of linebacker Harold Perkins after missing most of ’24 due to injury is a huge for Baker & Co." Lassan said. One CBS Sports early outlook has the Tigers at No. 6 overall: .@BCrawford247 dropped his way-too-early top 25 for 2025 👀 The highest ranking is with Saturday Blitz, ranking Clemson No. 5. "When we talk about a team that returns everyone, that's exactly how you would describe Clemson. Cade Klubnik, Antonio Williams, Bryant Wesco, T.J. Moore, Peter Woods, T.J. Parker, four starting offensive linemen, and many more are back," said Andrew Boardwine. "Clemson suffered nearly no attrition to the Transfer Portal and Dabo Swinney brought in a major piece in EDGE Will Heldt...If the Tigers can improve just marginally on defense, they're the clear favorite to win the ACC and get back to the College Football Playoff." That Top 5 is filled out by Texas, then Ohio State, Notre Dame and Georgia, producing the same projected CFP spot for the Tigers as Athlon and CBS. Clemson way-too-early rankings Athlon: 7 CBS/247Sports: 6 Saturday Blitz: 5
Who would y'all have higher heading into next season? pic.twitter.com/Sj6dVb89VJ

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