Clemson slips two spots in final ESPN college football preseason ranking

Clemson has the No. 1-rated defense according to the FEI, but an ESPN metric did drop the Tigers two spots overall to No. 16.

by TigerNet Staff - Aug 14, 2024, 11:22 AM

Predictions are finalizing with the college football season getting underway next week -- and for Clemson, at the end of the month in Atlanta versus No. 1 Georgia.

ESPN's SP+ college football ranking metric dropped the Tigers two spots in its final preseason projection, down to No. 16 ($).

The rating has Clemson with a No. 19-ranked offense and No. 14 defense, lacking in special teams (66).

Within the ACC, that overall ranking only trails Florida State, at No. 12, with a rating that puts Clemson as just a one-point underdog on a neutral field. DJ Uiagalelei and the Seminoles offense are rated No. 21, backed up with a No. 10 defense and No. 8 special teams group.

More Top 50 ACC teams are Miami (19), SMU (27), NC State (29), Louisville (31), Virginia Tech (36) and UNC (40).

More Clemson regular season foes check in with Georgia (1), South Carolina (35), Appalachian State (59), Pitt (66), Wake Forest (74), Stanford (77) and Virginia (78).

Another set of ESPN predictions this week had the ceiling for Clemson this season to be 11-1 and the floor to 6-6. The ACC opener versus NC State at home on Sept. 21 is the "key game" on the Clemson schedule.

"We're tempted to say the Georgia game will be the telltale matchup of the season for Clemson," ESPN's David Hale said, "but that's like judging Clemson's chances to win a game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos against an actual hippopotamus. It'll be interesting, but it probably isn't relevant to what the rest of the season will look like. The Week 3 matchup with the Wolfpack -- a team that has beaten Clemson two of the past three years and is far more talented in 2024 than in either of those previous seasons -- will be a far better indication of the Tigers' ACC title hopes and something of a preview of how well Dabo Swinney's crew will hold up two weeks later against Florida State."

In other preseason preview metrics, a fellow Football Outsiders alum in the FEI has Clemson three spots higher at No. 13, which paces the ACC ahead of Florida State (19), Louisville (25), UNC (35), Miami (37), SMU (40), NC State (42), Duke (43), Virginia Tech (48) and Cal (49) in the Top 50.

More regular season opponents check in with Georgia (1), South Carolina (50), App. State (55), Wake Forest (64), Pitt (65), Virginia (70) and Stanford (87).

Clemson is rated with the nation's No. 1 defense there and the No. 40 offense.