Clemson football: The next challenger in the ACC on the horizon

The next challenger for Clemson football in the ACC is on the horizon?

The Clemson football program has dominated the ACC for more than the last half-decade and nothing seems to be standing in the Tigers’ way of much more success within the conference in the future.

Clemson football continues to recruit at a high level and the Tigers are consistently competing for CFB Playoff berths. In the last six years, Clemson has won two National Titles, competed in six-straight CFB Playoffs and won six-straight ACC Championships.

While no Clemson football fan wants to see this stint of success come to an end, there’s no doubt that building up the conference would be a major asset to this Tiger program, which consistently has to hear from national media about how the ‘ACC is not as good as the other Power-5 conferences.’

Interestingly enough, ESPN reporter Heather Dinich posted a Tweet last week that provided some intrigue as to who the next contender in the ACC might be. Dinich said that the North Carolina Tar Heels, under Mack Brown, have the potential to become a CFB Playoff contender.

Who will be the next legitimate competitor for Clemson football in the ACC?

Let’s face it, since the 2015 season when the Tigers beat ranked Florida State and Louisville (Lamar Jackson led) teams, the ACC hasn’t had a top-tier team to compete with Clemson.

Sure, the conference isn’t as bad as ‘experts’ like to say, but no one is going to argue that there are several CFB Playoff contenders within the conference either.

Clemson has won the last five ACC Championships by a combined score of 218-75. That’s an average victory of 28.6 points per game. In those last five, Clemson has played four ranked opponents and two teams ranked inside the top-10 (No. 7 Miami in 2017, No. 2 Notre Dame in 2020) and that hasn’t stopped the Tigers from just completely dominating (at least for the most part) their opponent on their way to conference championship after conference championship.

So, the question is this: Who will be the next legitimate competitor in the ACC?

Could Dinich be on to something when she talks glowingly about North Carolina? The Tar Heels are recruiting just as well as anyone under Mack Brown and there is certainly reason for optimism about that program coming into the 2021 season and even looking beyond at the future as that talent starts to unfold.

Are there other options? Could Florida State finally be on the rise with Mike Norvell as the head coach? What about Miami or Virginia Tech? Could Louisville with Scott Satterfield at the helm be the next competitor? Pittsburgh?

Even when you look at those programs- and some are seemingly on the rise at least to an extent- Clemson football is just lightyears ahead of them. Even if Norvell could turn Florida State around, you’re still talking about years down the road before the Seminoles could legitimately get to the point as a program where the Tigers are at. Sure, they might could win a one-off game, but there’s a difference between upsetting a team and being a legitimate threat at taking over the conference.

Could we see Notre Dame join the league as a full-time member sometime here in the near future and the Fighting Irish present a legitimate rival to Clemson? It’s certainly possible, but we wouldn’t say it’s probable.

We agree with Dinich in saying that North Carolina has to be the most likely choice at this point, but that program will still need to take major leaps to arrive in the stratosphere of Clemson. Can it be done? Sure, but is it likely? We’re not so convinced.

What do you think, Clemson football fans? Who’s the next legitimate challenger for the Tigers in the ACC? How long does it take before the Tigers have a legitimate threat to their ACC crown?