The Clemson football program has proven to be one of the most consistent powerhouses in all of College Football over more than the last half-decade.
The Tigers have made six-straight CFB Playoff appearances and they’ve won two National Championships in the last five years. They’ve continued to dominate the ACC as a conference and there doesn’t seem to be anything in the way of them making yet another major run in the postseason in the fall of 2021.
Clemson football will have some new faces taking over the offense with Trevor Lawrence out and former No. 1 QB D.J. Uiagalelei in, and that will be paired with an experienced defense that could be the deepest group we’ve seen Brent Venables possess since the 2018 team that won the National Championship.
With all that in place, USA Today still isn’t high on Clemson football
USA Today was the first publication to have the Tigers outside the top-two earlier this year when they published their preseason rankings and Clemson will remain at the same spot in their updated rankings.
The Tigers are ranked No. 4, according to USA Today, and they’re behind the Ohio State Buckeyes (3), Oklahoma Sooners (2) and Alabama Crimson Tide (1).
In the previous rankings, USA Today had Clemson at No. 4 but behind Georgia. Now, the Bulldogs have moved to No. 5 and the Buckeyes are now No. 3. Don’t ask us what Ohio State could’ve done this spring- besides lose several players to the transfer portal– that would tell the publication that they should move up.
In the end, these are just preseason rankings and they don’t matter. We all know that.
But it just doesn’t make much sense to have an unproven Oklahoma team- even if they do have one of the best QBs in the nation and a solid stable of wide receivers- ahead of a proven Clemson program.
Clemson and Ohio State could be a wash in rankings, but when you look at what was lost and what’s returning, you would think the Tigers would be the ones who’d get the nod.