Clemson football will attempt to join history once again in 2020.
When the 2019 preseason AP college football poll was released, Clemson football was number one for the first time in program history. As we know, the Tigers would go undefeated, win the ACC, beat Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinal, and then lose to LSU and finish number two in the final 2019 AP poll.
The AP released its 2020 preseason poll Monday afternoon and Clemson football found itself ranked preseason number one for the second straight year. Since its inception in 1936, Clemson football has found itself ranked number for a total of 16 weeks, which is 19th all-time.
Should the Tigers stay atop the poll all season, they would surpass Army and move into 14th all-time in weeks spent atop the AP poll. Last season limited time at number one in the AP, saw them move past both UGA and Washington on the all-time list.
The college football preseason AP poll has been released ⬇️
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 24, 2020
1. Clemson
2. Ohio State*
3. Alabama
4. Georgia
5. Oklahoma
6. LSU
7. Penn State*
8. Florida
9. Oregon*
10. Notre Dame
* Indicates team canceled their games for the fall season
Should Clemson’s most talented team in program history win the national title in 2020, they will join very rare company.
Clemson football will attempt to join history in 2020
Since 1950, just 11 teams have started as the preseason number one and go on to win the national title. To put this in perspective, since 2000, only 2004 USC and 2017 Alabama have accomplished this feat.
Of the 62 voters in the AP poll, 38 of them had Clemson number one; Ohio State, Alabama, and LSU also received first-place votes. Last season, 52 of the 62 voters had the Tigers number one – the other 10 went to Alabama.
With the face of college football Trevor Lawrence, All-American running back Travis Etienne, All-ACC tackle Jackson Carman and All-ACC defensive tackle Tyler Davis back in 2020, it should not be shocking to anyone that the Tigers are garnering all the attention that they are as we move even closer to the start of the 2020 college football season.