It's offseason prediction season and while all Clemson football fans have their own ideas of what's going to happen in 2025, some experts are beginning to weigh in.
The consensus opinion regarding the Tigers is a College Football Playoff berth and another ACC title, but how far they go in the postseason is a different story. Some experts have Clemson winning the national title while others have the Tigers losing in the first round.
Where does CBS Sports have Clemson finishing?
Well, the publication revealed its best and worst-case scenarios for the 2025 season and they were both rather favorable considering Dabo Swinney hasn't really looked like a national title contender since Trevor Lawrence was in town.
According to Chip Patterson of CBS Sports, the best-case scenario for the Tigers is to go 12-0 and make yet another College Football Playoff appearance, locking it in before the ACC title game. The loaded offense led by the best quarterback in college football, Cade Klubnik, celebrates the 10th anniversary of the playoff with a first-round bye.
As for the worst-case scenario, Clemson finishes 9-3 which is exactly how the Tigers finished the 2024 regular season. And based on expectations as well as the schedule, three losses would be extremely disappointing, to say the least. If Clemson went 9-3, that would likely mean a missed playoff trip or having to sneak in with an ACC title. That'd be less than ideal.
Where do I think the Tigers will finish? I think 11 wins is probably the expectation but anything in the double-digit range will likely lead to a playoff berth.
Making the playoff is the minimum expectation this season.