The preseason hype around Clemson football has reached a fever pitch, but a stunning new prediction from a major national voice has just taken it to a whole new level! Longtime FOX Sports college football play-by-play announcer Tim Brando has released his definitive 2025 projected rankings, and he has Clemson all the way up at No. 2 in the country, behind only the defending national champion Ohio State!
Brando, who broke down his list on the Crain & Company show, delivered a ringing, unequivocal endorsement that will have Tiger fans buzzing. "I love that team," he declared, setting the tone for his incredibly bullish take on Dabo Swinney's squad.
The reason for his confidence? Brando sees a Clemson program that has found its championship-era DNA again. "We’re talking about a reenactment of those days when Dabo had it going on," he said, directly referencing the Tigers' 2016 and 2018 national title runs.
Brando's high praise is rooted in two key areas:
- A CHAMPIONSHIP-CALIBER DEFENSIVE FRONT: "He’s got a defensive front right now that’s really, really good," Brando stated. "It’s going to be the kind of defensive front that they used to have in those years when they were able to beat Alabama two out of three opportunities and win national championships."
- THE QUARTERBACK RETURN: The presence of a returning quarterback in Cade Klubnik is a massive factor. Brando highlighted that the team "smelled it" last year in the College Football Playoff and "represented themselves really, really well" against Texas, showing they're ready for the next step.
Brando acknowledged that many people had "thrown dirt" on Clemson after a couple of down years, but he believes that Dabo "got the memo," and the program's elite returning talent is now ready to explode back onto the national scene.
Brando's prediction sets up a monumental showdown in Week 1, as he has No. 4 LSU coming to Memorial Stadium on August 30th. This high-stakes opener will be a critical test to see if Clemson's return to championship form is truly real.
While other major preseason polls have Clemson ranked in the top 5-10, Brando's No. 2 ranking is a powerful outlier that fuels the ultimate national title hype. If his projection holds true, the 2025 season will be a "reenactment" of Clemson's glory days, and Brando will be one of the first to have called it.