The coaches have spoken! On Tuesday, the first coaches poll of the 2026-27 college football season was released. While Clemson did crack the top 25 of the US LBM Coaches Poll, it was only a year ago Dabo Swinney's team was widely seen as a top-five program. It is amazing what a difference a season can make. Regardless, this preseason coaches poll shows the harsh reality Clemson could be facing.
Here is who the coaches decided were the 25 best teams in college football heading into this season.
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Oregon Ducks
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Texas Longhorns
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Miami Hurricanes
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- LSU Tigers
- USC Trojans
- BYU Cougars
- Michigan Wolverines
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Washington Huskies
- SMU Mustangs
- Utah Utes
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Clemson Tigers
- Houston Cougars
- Missouri Tigers
It should be noted that Swinney was not among the head coaches who took part in the Coaches Poll.
Clemson coming in at No. 23 tells us three things heading into this season. One, the No. 7 Miami Hurricanes are seen as the presumptive top dog in the conference. Two, No. 23 Clemson needs to make up ground on No. 20 SMU for the right to get to the ACC Championship. And three, Louisville being the first team out of the top 25 suggests the Cardinals are not on the other contenders' levels.
While pegging Clemson at No. 23 might have been easy to forecast, this wider range than expected between SMU and Louisville, with the Tigers saddled in between, is intriguing. Clemson does not face either of these ACC title bout contenders. However, the coaches still do not think Clemson gets back to Charlotte for the second time in three seasons. It is imperative for Clemson to go 7-1 in ACC play.
Otherwise, the Tigers could be playing with fire trying to make it in as one of the final at-large teams.
Coaches Poll reaffirms Clemson's importance of getting to ACC title bout
Clemson may be the third ACC team to crack the top 25, so it beats being picked fourth by the media. However, the coaches do seem to think the ACC will only be a two-team league under one condition. That condition would require Miami not winning the ACC. To be fair, the Hurricanes never have... Their last conference championship came when they played in the Big East. That could all change this year.
The good news is not only has Miami never won the ACC before, but neither have SMU nor Louisville. To be fair, neither team has been in the ACC that long. SMU just got here, but did play Clemson in the ACC Championship two seasons ago. Add in the fact that Miami will lose an bad game on the regular, and Clemson will have to take advantage of this. To be frank, Clemson must handle its ACC business.
While knocking off Miami at home would be fantastic, it may be more important not to drop winnable games in Death Valley to Virginia Tech, or road dates at places like Syracuse. Should Clemson split its pair of non-conference games versus the SEC in LSU and South Carolina, that could give the Tigers a compelling enough resume to make the playoffs. Being in the conversation for them is what matters.
Overall, the coaches still seem to think that Clemson is more of a playoff pretender than a contender. After what transpired last year, who could blame them? Perhaps the biggest takeaway we can derive from the first coaches poll of the season could be this. While there is some baked-in respect for the Clemson program, voters refused to be fooled by the Tigers again. They have to go out and prove it.
For Clemson to reach the playoffs, the Tigers need to win all the games they should, and then some.
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