Clemson Football finishes 13th in final AP Top 25

The college football season concluded with Georgia’s resounding victory over TCU on Monday night. It didn’t take long for the AP to release their final poll of the season, and as expected, Clemson Football fell a bit after their Orange Bowl loss to Tennessee.

The Tigers finished 13th in the final poll of 2023, down three spots from 10th in the Week 15 poll. Clemson had been ranked 7th in the final College Football Playoff rankings.

As expected, Georgia took the top spot. Despite losing the national championship game by 58 points, TCU maintained the second spot, followed by Michigan, Ohio State, and Alabama.

Though Clemson won the ACC title and was undefeated in conference play, they did not finish with the highest ranking in the conference. That distinction goes to Florida State, who finished 11th, despite losing to Clemson in Tallahassee and finishing with one fewer win. The Seminoles won their postseason bowl against Oklahoma 35-32.

The only other ACC team that was ranked was Pittsburgh at 22nd. Duke had the most votes of any team that did not make the final ranking.

Clemson Football finishes outside the Top 10 for the second straight season

The three teams that defeated Clemson in 2023 – Tennessee, Notre Dame, and South Carolina – were ranked 6th, 18th, and 23rd respectively.

The SEC and Pac-12 led all conferences with six teams ranked each, followed by the ACC (3), Big Ten (3), Big 12 (3), the American (1), the Sun Belt (1), and the Mountain West (1). Notre Dame was the lone independent representative.

Clemson’s ranking this season is a one-spot improvement over their final ranking of 2021, which is a disappointment for the Tigers considering how well the season started. Clemson began 8-0 before finishing 3-3 over the final six games of the season. It is the second straight season that the Tigers finished outside the Top 10 after six straight Top 5 finishes.