Sadly, the 2024-25 college football season has come to an end. With Ohio State's 34-23 win over Notre Dame in Monday night's College Football Playoff Championship Game less than a day from being completed, people around the country are already turning their attention to next fall.
Already, pundits and experts are producing way-too-early top-25 rankings for next season. That's where Clemson fans should find reasons to be pumped for the 2025-26 season to arrive.
People around the country are extremely high on Clemson as we head into the offseason. It is easy to understand why.
The Tigers will return one of the nation's best quarterbacks, Cade Klubnik, as well as most of his key weapons in the passing game. What's more, the Tigers have lured one of the biggest names in the assistant coaching pool, Tom Allen, to run their defense giving fans hope that he can do in Clemson what he did with the Penn State defense in 2024.
The optimism surrounding Clemson's immediate future is a return to the era when the Tigers were annually expected to contend for National Championships. That hasn't been the case in recent seasons, though.
This past season, Dabo Swinney's team opened the season ranked just No. 14 in the first poll. The year prior, Clemson opened up barely in the top 10 at No. 9.
It has been since 2022 that the Tigers began the season as a top-5 team. That might change in 2025 though. But even if it doesn't, it is apparent that Clemson will easily be a top-10 team to start next fall given the way many of the way-too-early top-25 rankings sit.
Athlon Sports has the Tigers at No. 7 in their early 2025 rankings. They point to the development of Klubnik as a key reason for the high ranking.
"Klubnik made massive progress under second-year coordinator Garrett Riley, throwing for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns en route to an ACC championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff," writes Steven Lassan.
Stewart Mandel of The New York Times has the Tigers even higher in his early top 25. He puts Clemson at No. 5 heading into the offseason.
"This is the most optimistic I’ve been about Dabo Swinney’s team in several years," he writes. "He upgraded considerably at DC by landing Allen from Penn State. Klubnik found his groove at the end of the season, throwing a combined seven TDs against one pick in the ACC Championship Game win over SMU and first-round CFP loss to Texas. It helps that he finally has receivers such as Wesco and T.J. Moore, who can stretch the field. The Tigers have a biggie in Week 1 when LSU comes to town."
Mark Schlabach at ESPN.com, has Clemson squarely in his top-10. In fact, he has them at No. 7 as well.
"Maybe Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is doing it the right way, and we were all wrong," he writes. "Swinney caught plenty of flak for not utilizing the transfer portal after his team's ugly 34-3 loss to Georgia in the opener. However, the Tigers rebounded to win another ACC title and reach the CFP. They'll undoubtedly be the team to beat in the league in 2025, with Klubnik, Williams, Woodaz, Parker, Woods, and Miller all electing to return for another season.
Pro Football Focus is also high on Clemson. They put the Tigers at No. 6 in their early 2025 rankings.
"After winning the ACC this past season," they write, "Clemson is the clear favorite to win the conference once again which would mark its ninth title in 11 years. The Tigers are set to return eight of their 10 most valuable players from this year’s squad according to PFF’s wins above average metric.
Finally, at NCAA.com, Stan Becton puts Clemson at No. 5. Like many, he is optimistic about the Tigers' defense improving next fall.
"The defense should be great, starting with the front four," he writes, "Peter Woods and T.J. Parker are All-ACC level players. The addition of transfer — Dabo finally went into the portal — edge rushers Jeremiah Alexander and Will Heldt bolster an already sturdy front. Cornerback Aveion Terrell could be one of the best in the ACC with another year of development too."
As you can see, the expectations for next year are massive. The Tigers will almost certainly begin the season as highly-ranked as they have been since 2022 and they will be the heavy favorites to win the ACC and get back to the College Football Playoff. Therefore, next fall can't arrive soon enough for fans in Clemson.