Underrated? Paul Finebaum, Heather Dinich discuss Clemson football ranking in Coaches Poll
The Clemson Tigers were safely in the top 10, checking in at No. 6 in the preseason top 25 poll. Clemson ranked one spot behind Notre Dame to land just outside the top five but were one spot ahead of last year's No. 1 overall seed entering the College Football Playoff: the Oregon Ducks.
Some analysts feel the Tigers are ranked a bit too low. CBS Sports' Will Backus on Monday put Dabo Swinney's team atop his list of underrated teams from the coaches' top 25 rankings.
Two other prominent college football voices have weighed in with their assessment of the Tigers' No. 6 ranking, as well: ESPN's Heather Dinich and Paul Finebaum. The two appeared on Tuesday's edition of "Get Up" and agreed that Clemson deserves a top-5 ranking.
"Clemson is underrated," Dinich exclaimed. "Why are we not talking more about the Clemson Tigers and Dabo Swinney? This is the year. They have all the pieces in place to return to national relevance in the College Football Playoff and make a deep run.
"You look at Cade Klubnik. He is a projected No. 1 pick in (ESPN NFL Draft analyst) Jordan Reid's latest 2026 mock draft. He's got one of the best defensive lines in the country and multiple receivers to throw it to. This is a team that should be getting more credit."
Finebaum agreed that the Tigers were underrated in Monday's preseason poll but brought up Clemson's 0-3 record against SEC teams last season.
"Clemson is outstanding. I think they are underrated, but the problem with Clemson is that they lost to Georgia badly at the beginning of last year. They lost, at home, to South Carolina. They looked average in their playoff game (at Texas), so it's hard to wrap one's arm around them right now." --Paul Finebaum, ESPN
Preseason US LBM Coaches Poll Top 25
Rank
Team
Points
Final Rank 2024
1
Texas
1,606 (28)
3
2
Ohio State
1,565 (20)
1
3
Penn State
1,525 (14)
5
4
Georgia
1,466 (3)
6
5
Notre Dame
1,360
2
6
Clemson
1,324 (2)
11
7
Oregon
1,307
4
8
Alabama
1,210
17
9
LSU
1,056
NR
10
Miami (FL)
823
18
11
Arizona State
806
7
12
Illinois
734
16
13
South Carolina
665
19
14
Michigan
580
NR
15
Mississippi
573
13
16
SMU
555
11
17
Florida
498
NR
18
Tennessee
492
8
19
Indiana
460
10
20
Kansas State
438
NR
21
Texas A&M
392
NR
21
Iowa State
392
15
23
BYU
287
14
24
Texas Tech
261
NR
25
Boise State
246
9
Clemson football schedule 2025
Clemson opens the 2025 season against the LSU Tigers at Memorial Stadium in prime time on Aug. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ABC. LSU is ranked No. 9 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll.
All times Eastern.
Aug. 30: vs. LSU (7:30 p.m., ABC)
Sept. 6: vs. Troy (3:30 p.m., ACC Network)
Sept. 13: at Georgia Tech (12 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN)
Sept. 20: vs. Syracuse
Oct. 4: at North Carolina
Oct. 11: at Boston College
Oct. 18: vs. SMU
Nov. 1: vs. Duke
Nov. 8: vs. Florida State
Nov. 14: at Louisville (8 p.m., ESPN)
Nov. 22: vs. Furman
Nov. 29: at South Carolina (12 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN)
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football underrated? Paul Finebaum, Heather Dinich weigh in
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