Clemson football: PFF has Tigers with lower conference winning percentage

The Clemson football team steps into the 2021 season as one of the favorites to compete for a spot in the CFB Playoff and for the National Title.

Though the Tigers will have some new faces as they look to replace two historically-great talents in QB Trevor Lawrence and RB Travis Etienne in the backfield, they are expected to have one of the best defenses in the country and new QB D.J. Uiagalelei is already listed as one of the leaders in the Heisman odds heading into the fall.

Pro Football Focus just recently did its first run-through of ELO rankings for all 130 FBS teams heading into the 2021 season and Clemson was ranked No. 2 in the nation.

Here’s what the publication had to say about the Tigers:

"Like Alabama, Clemson lost significant pieces to the NFL. But unlike Alabama, we were able to see the heir apparent to Trevor Lawrence last year in D.J. Uiagalelei, who in 124 dropbacks earned a 77.6 passing grade, making five big-time throws while generating zero turnover-worthy plays (and no interceptions, to boot). The market is super heavy on the Tigers to win the ACC (-835), which is a bit steep, but they should be in the mix come December, as they always are."

Interestingly enough, the conference-winning percentage chance for Clemson football is a bit low

It’s splitting hairs, but it is interesting that Clemson is ranked No. 2 by PFF in the national rankings, but is only given a 58 percent chance of winning the ACC.

The Tigers’ chances of winning the National Championship, according to the rankings, are 17 percent which is second-best behind just Alabama.

Just for reference, Alabama is given a 51 percent chance of winning the SEC and that is in a conference that has five teams ranked inside the top-10 of their rankings. Oklahoma is given a 60 percent chance of winning the Big 12.

As we said, it’s just splitting hairs but this Clemson football team should probably be given a higher chance than 58 percent. The Tigers are the clear favorite heading into the season and there doesn’t seem to be anyone standing in their way of winning the ACC Atlantic and getting back to Charlotte. If that’s the case, we like their chances of coming away with a seventh-straight conference title.

Here’s a look at the top-10 rankings according to PFF:

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Ohio State
4. Georgia
5. Oklahoma
6. Texas A&M
7. Florida
8. Notre Dame
9. Iowa
10. LSU

As far as ACC teams are concerned, North Carolina is ranked No. 11 and Miami is sitting at No. 18. The Pitt Panthers are the last team ranked inside the top-25 at No. 23.