While the Clemson football program might be losing a couple historic names in Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, there are few analysts who believe we’ll see much of a drop-off from the Tigers in 2021.
D.J. Uiagalelei is taking over as the new face of the Clemson football program and there is plenty of optimism that his ceiling could potentially be higher than that of Lawrence.
FanSided’s John Buhler recently published a rankings of the ‘6 college football teams with the best chance of going undefeated in 2021‘ and to no surprise, Clemson was near the top of that list.
Buhler gave the Tigers the second-best chance in the country of finishing the regular season unscathed, just behind the Ohio State Buckeyes.
"“If Clemson beats Georgia Week 1 in Charlotte, there is a great chance the Tigers go undefeated,” Buhler wrote. “While ACC foes like Boston College could be tricky, Clemson will not have to play either Coastal elite team in Miami or North Carolina until the conference title bout. Clemson would be favored over both of them in Charlotte. The Tigers can win the playoff, but they have to beat Georgia first.”"
Clemson football has an excellent chance of going undefeated during the 2021 season
When you look at the schedule for this upcoming fall, you’ve got to believe that the Tigers will be a favorite in every single game and, honestly, they may be a double-digit favorite in all their games this season.
The Georgia game will be tightly-contested, but there’s no doubt the Tigers will be the favorites in that matchup.
One place we would tend to disagree with Buhler would be in his final line where he says “The Tigers can win the playoff, but they have to beat Georgia first.”
Clemson absolutely wants to beat the Bulldogs and a loss to Georgia would by no means help the Tigers’ CFB Playoff chances. But do they have to beat UGA to get into the playoff?
If Clemson loses to Georgia but wins out finishing the regular season 11-1 and then beats a team of North Carolina’s caliber in the ACC Championship game, you have to believe they’re in regardless of what happened in the season-opener.
Still, there’s no doubt that the Tigers are set up nicely to go undefeated in 2021 if they can get past Georgia and that’s one reason why they are considered a major contender for yet another postseason run.