The Clemson football team enters the 2021 season as one of the favorites to compete for a spot in the CFB Playoff and for a National Title.
But it all starts with winning the ACC.
Clemson football currently holds a six-year ACC Championship winning streak and the Tigers have not had much legitimate competition during their run.
As we head into the fall of 2021, though, Pro Football Focus is at least keeping track of one team who might be able to challenge Clemson: The North Carolina Tar Heels.
PFF recently published its list of the top-five players in the ACC and UNC QB Sam Howell held the top spot and UNC DB Storm Duck was listed at No. 5. There were two Clemson football players on the list, as well, with D.J. Uiagalelei at No. 4 and WR Justyn Ross at No. 2.
Will we see a Clemson-North Carolina ACC Championship? pic.twitter.com/giYMLEnyq8
— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 29, 2021
In addition to its list of top player in the ACC, Pro Football Focus also published its list of full FBS rankings for the 2021 season and had the Tar Heels ranked No. 11 in the nation. In the same rankings, Clemson is ranked No. 2 in the nation and the Tigers are given a 58 percent chance of winning the ACC. North Carolina is second with an 18 percent chance of winning the conference.
Clemson football might have some competition in North Carolina, but the Tigers aren’t ready to give up their place at the top just yet
While PFF isn’t ready to name UNC a legitimate competitor for the Tigers, the publication is extremely high on the Tar Heels and it’s clear that they believe they could put up a fight in a game against Clemson in Charlotte.
Mack Brown has done an excellent job recruiting at high level and building that UNC program since he took over.
In my opinion, the Tar Heels could easily go somewhere between 9-3 (at worst) and 11-1 (at best), if everything went right. North Carolina has a legitimate shot at finishing the year as a top-10 team and there are plenty of reasons for Tar Heel fans to be excited.
That being said, Clemson isn’t quite ready to give up that top spot atop the conference.
The Tigers are still easily the deepest team in the ACC and they’re going to have potentially the best defense in the nation, along with an extremely lethal and explosive offense.
UNC might be able to put a valiant effort, but there’s no way that we’d be betting against Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program at this point.