Clemson Football: Is the ACC poised to bounce back in 2022?

USA Today released the preseason edition of their coaches poll on Monday, and Clemson football was ranked #4th in the country. This isn’t the only poll that has ranked Clemson as high as the top five, so it isn’t an outlier, but it is a bit surprising considering Clemson finished #16 in the final poll of 2021.

This is a strong indicator that head coach Dabo Swinney has built the program to the point that observers have confidence that Clemson can achieve at a high level, even following a year which isn’t quite up to the standard they expect from the Tigers based on the past seven seasons.

Even more surprising is that the poll includes five total ACC teams. That is the most ACC teams included in the preseason poll since 2010, which is the last time the ACC got five.  Just three years ago in 2019, Clemson was the only ACC team in the preseason poll.

That puts things into perspective when it comes to the lack of respect the ACC has gotten nationally. In 2019, Clemson was the preseason #1 team in the USA Today coaches poll, and not a single other team in the conference was ranked.

NC State has a received a decent amount of preseason respect and is ranked just outside the top ten at #12. Pittsburgh, Miami and Wake Forest are all ranked in the teens.

This is a good thing for Clemson, and it couldn’t happen at a better time. Enthusiasm within the conference has been low for much of the summer. Now we can look at the schedule and see that the ACC will have multiple matchups throughout the season that could feature two Top 25 teams.

Clemson faces Wake Forest & NC State in Weeks 4 & 5 respectively, and then hosts Miami in late November. NC State faces Wake in the first weekend of November, and then Miami and Pitt meet in the final week of the regular season.

Excitement and cautious optimism builds as season inches closer

Now it is up to these five teams to prove it on the field. Miami will have a tough early season visit to Texas A&M. Pittsburgh will host Tennessee. Clemson will visit South Bend to play Notre Dame the same weekend NC State faces Wake Forest. Even if these teams avoid upsets within the conference, they will still need to be competitive outside the conference to maintain their places in the polls. We also know now that Sam Hartman will miss some time for Wake Forest, so they will have to prove they can remain competitive without him in the lineup.

I am excited for the coming season and cautiously optimistic that the Tigers will be able to return to the ACC championship game and compete for a CFP berth. I am also cautiously optimistic that the conference will begin trending upward. A more positive opinion of the conference nationally will benefit Clemson.