National Analyst Low on Clemson, Doesn’t Like Tigers’ Schedule

Fox Sports’ lead college football analyst, Joel Klatt, unveiled his preseason top 25 rankings this week heading into the 2024 season.

Clemson (9-4, 4-4 ACC in 2023) appeared near the bottom of Klatt’s preseason top 25, checking in at No. 22 in front of Nebraska (No. 23), Iowa (No. 24) and Texas A&M (No. 25).

The Tigers are the third highest-ranked ACC team in Klatt’s preseason rankings, behind Miami (No. 12) and Florida State (No. 13).

Here’s everything Klatt had to say regarding his ranking for Clemson, including how he doesn’t like the Tigers’ schedule, thinks they could lose three of their first five games and how Dabo Swinney’s team is “trending in the wrong direction”:

“I understand this might seem like it’s a low ranking for Clemson. But I know Dabo was bullish on this team after their 4-4 start, they won their last five. But in the last few years, they finished 14th, 13th and then 20th in the final AP Poll. So, they’re trending in the wrong direction. (Cade) Klubnik has got to step up. Garrett Riley’s offense has got to step up. And then I looked at this schedule and I just thought to myself, ‘I don’t like it.’ I don’t like the fact that they haven’t brought any transfers in — and I get it, but it’s more than that. It’s more about the fact that they aren’t what they were four years ago, and now you look at their schedule and there is a real chance – I don’t know how likely – but a real chance that this team could be 2-3 in their first five games.

“They’ve got Georgia in Atlanta, App State at home – might be the best Group of Five team in the country. They’ve got North Carolina State at home. NC State likely a top-30 team. They’ve got at Florida State, which is their former quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. They’ve got road games at Virginia Tech and South Carolina later in the year. Like, it’s just a bad schedule for them. So, you’re telling me they’re going to need to either upset Georgia or Florida State to be considered in an at-large situation or even get to the ACC Championship Game. I don’t know if they’ve got that in their bag this year.”

Georgia is No. 2 in Klatt’s preseason top 25, with Ohio State taking the No. 1 spot. Texas, Oregon and Ole Miss round out the top five, in that order.

You can see Klatt’s full preseason top 25 below and hear his commentary on each team in the following video:

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