The AP released it’s preseason college football poll on Monday and Clemson football was predictably ranked fourth.
The Tigers followed Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia, and were ahead of Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Utah, with Michigan, Oklahoma and Baylor rounding out the top 10.
The Crimson Tide garnered 54 of 63 first place votes (86%), while Ohio State received 6 and Georgia 3.
If there was any surprise among the top 3 for me, it’s that Alabama was so far ahead of Ohio State in the number of first place votes.
Number 4 Clemson and number 5 Notre Dame are scheduled to square off in early November in South Bend in what has become one of college football’s hottest tickets, but both teams have significant challenges prior to that date with Clemson facing North Carolina State and Wake Forest, while the Irish open with Ohio State on September 3rd in the Horseshoe.
Speaking of the Wolfpack, they are ranked 13th in this poll, just behind Oregon and Oklahoma State and ahead of USC and Michigan State.
Two ACC teams, Miami and Pittsburgh are 16th and 17th, respectively, while Wake Forest rounds out ACC teams at number 22.
Clemson football has five preseason AP Top 25 teams on their 2022 schedule
The ACC, generally thought of as much weaker than the SEC, has solid representation, only having one less team in the poll than the SEC.
After opening up with Georgia Tech, Furman and Louisiana Tech in a 12 stretch, the Tigers travel to Wake Forest (No. 22) and host North Carolina State (No. 13) in back to back weeks at the end of September and beginning of October.
Later in the season Clemson travels to No. 5 Notre Dame on November 5th and host No. 16 Miami on November 19th, giving the Tigers 5 games against AP Preseason Top 25 teams.
The ESPN FPI metric favors the Tigers in every game and gives the Tigers a 57.4% chance of making the playoff and a 10.0% chance of winning the National Championship.