Clemson football: CFB personality ranks Tigers outside of top group

One member of the national media is not a Clemson football believer in 2022.

Joel Klatt is one of Fox Sports top college football personalities and is generally and outspoken voice that gets a lot of attention.

He’s no Paul Finebaum, but Klatt has opinions and isn’t afraid to share them.

Earlier this week he shared his top five teams headed into the 2022 season.

Seeing as how his “Almost” group isn’t in alphabetical order, one could surmise he has the Tigers at number 9.

To be honest, I’m not sure where I’d have the Tigers myself if I had to do this exercise, but it looks strange to see the Tigers behind Michigan State, for example.

The Tigers have plenty of question marks, most obviously at quarterback and offensive line, but they also have perhaps the best defensive line in the nation, which is one of the most sought after position groups in the game.

Klatt has opinions, just like we do and I get why he put Clemson where he did, but struggle to understand the love for Texas A&M and Michigan State in particular.

Almost every team is flawed, but the flaws of some are ignored

Texas A&M has been back almost as much as Texas has in the last few years and “celebrated” only losing to Clemson by 24-10 after scoring a touchdown in the final minute of a not close at all loss back in 2019.

For every big win the Aggies have, there’s at least an equally mystifying loss and they finished a whopping 8-4 in last season’s regular season that included losses to Mississippi State and an LSU team that finished with a losing record.

Michigan State is a solid team that  went 11-2.  Given that their schedule has them playing at Washington, at Michigan and at Penn State in addition to Ohio State and Wisconsin, good luck duplicating that feat.

Clemson has questions, but the Tigers also have a track record, while the other teams have questions and less of a track record.

I could change my mind, but as I sit here in June, it’s hard for me to justify either of these teams ahead of the Tigers, quarterback issues or not.