An early look at what one of the most respected projection models is saying about Clemson football in 2025.
The 2025 college football season is still over six months away, but as the sport’s diehards know, there’s not really such a thing as an off-season.
For the Clemson Tigers, the future looks bright after quarterback Cade Klubnik posted a stellar year in 2024 under second-year offensive coordinator Garrett Riley. In his junior season, Klubnik threw for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns to six interceptions.
With Klubnik and sophomore receiver Antonio Williams playing at elite levels and freshmen Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore having promising debut seasons, Clemson’s offense was electric at times. The Tigers infused some energy back into the program and won their ninth ACC title under Dabo Swinney — one year after a down stretch in 2023 had some hollering that the game had passed the legendary coach by.
Swinney has since dipped into the transfer portal and landed impressive talent at defensive end (Purdue’s Will Heldt), linebacker (Alabama’s Jeremiah Alexander) and wide receiver depth (Southeast Missouri State’s Tristan Smith). Swinney also brought longtime NFL scouting director Kevin Kelly into the program as Clemson’s Director of Player Evaluation & Acquisition.
Clemson opens the 2025 season on Aug. 30 at Memorial Stadium against the LSU Tigers in what’s sure to be one of the most-watched games of Week 1. The Tigers’ annual spring game is set for April 5 at 1 p.m. ET.
On Thursday, ESPN unveiled its initial SP+ rankings for the 2025 season (subscription required). Bill Connelly lists the three key ingredients to SP+ rankings as returning production, recent recruiting and recent history.
ESPN’s initial college football SP+ rankings for Clemson, ACC rivals
The Tigers check in at No. 11 overall in Connelly’s SP+ rankings with an overall rating of 18.8. Clemson is up five spots from this time last year and is also one spot behind LSU and one spot ahead of Texas A&M in Connelly’s rankings. The Tigers’ offensive rating of 37.8 is good for eighth best on the list, while their 19.0 defensive rating is 21st.
Eight ACC teams made the initial top 50 in SP+ rankings. The SMU Mustangs, who Clemson beat in last year’s ACC Championship Game, were seven spots behind the Tigers at No. 18 overall. Jeff Brohm’s Louisville Cardinals were No. 22, and Manny Diaz’s Duke Blue Devils were No. 39.
Virginia Tech, Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels, NC State and Georgia Tech also cracked the top 50 in ESPN’s initial rankings. Outside the ACC, rival South Carolina was five spots below the Tigers at No. 16.
ESPN SP+ rankings, explained
Connelly reminds readers that SP+ is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” and a “predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking. Along those same lines, these projections aren’t intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the season. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather.”
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions. Follow Steve Holley on Twitter/X at @BySteveHolley.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
