College football Top 25: Can No. 1 Clemson get back to the pinnacle after 14 losses in the last 4 seasons?
Now that it's mid-August, there's just over a week until Kansas State and Iowa State meet in Dublin to begin the 2025 regular season. And since the season is quickly approaching, we're rolling out our preseason Top 25.
It all culminates with the reveal of our No. 1 team. (All odds are from BetMGM.)
Previously: Nos. 11 through 25, No. 10 Miami, No. 9 Alabama, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 7 LSU, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 5 Georgia, No. 4 Oregon, No. 3 Texas, No. 2 Penn State
No. 1 Clemson
2024 record: 10-4
National championship odds: +900
Odds to make College Football Playoff: -200
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2024 in 100 words
Clemson went from looking like a team that wasn't going to make the College Football Playoff in Week 1 to one that made the College Football Playoff.
The Tigers got blown out 34-3 by Georgia to start the season for a third Week 1 defeat in the last four seasons. Clemson then reeled off six straight wins before a home loss to Louisville put the Tigers in real playoff danger. However, thanks to Miami's loss at Syracuse — and Clemson winning the final three games of its ACC season — the Tigers got into the ACC title game and took down SMU thanks to a last-second 56-yard field goal by Nolan Hauser.
However, Clemson's season ended much like it began; with a defeat to an SEC school. Texas beat Clemson 38-24 in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
The quarterback
Cade Klubnik
Klubnik's rebound from 2023 to 2024 was remarkable. Klubnik took over as Clemson's starting quarterback at the end of the 2022 season and had high expectations entering 2023 with offensive coordinator Garrett Riley coming over from TCU. The Horned Frogs had made the national championship game in 2022 after averaging 6.7 yards per play and scoring 39 points per game.
The change in offensive philosophies took a while to click. Clemson averaged 5.2 yards a play in 2023 and went 9-4. It was the first time since 2010 that the Tigers had won fewer than 10 games, and a lot of that had to do with a passing offense that simply couldn't get going. Klubnik threw for 2,844 yards and 19 TDs with nine interceptions while averaging just 6.3 yards a throw.
His numbers skyrocketed in 2024, even after that dreadful start to the season. Klubnik threw for 3,639 yards and 36 TDs while throwing three fewer interceptions. He threw the ball downfield more successfully and more often — Klubnik averaged 2.2 more air yards per throw in 2024 than he did in 2023 — and became a serious threat with his legs too. Klubnik rushed for 463 yards and seven scores, and he even scored the game-winning TD against Pitt on Nov. 16 with a 50-yard dash.
Klubnik's breakout in 2024 means he enters the 2025 season as the co-No. 2 favorite for the Heisman alongside LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier. And guess what? LSU and Clemson square off in Week 1. The QB for the winning team in that game could even become the early season Heisman favorite depending on how Arch Manning and Texas do against Ohio State.
Non-QB to watch
LB Sammy Brown
Brown made just six starts but was one of the most impactful players on Clemson's defense as a true freshman in 2024. Brown was second on the team with 80 tackles and had five sacks to go along with 6.5 other tackles for loss. He became just the seventh Clemson player ever to have 10 or more tackles for loss as a true freshman.
Brown returns to team with senior Wade Woodaz to patrol the second level of Clemson's defense. Brown could easily be a first-team All-American by the end of the season and a household name if Clemson makes a deep College Football Playoff run.
Best position group
Wide receiver
The offense struggled in 2023 as Clemson didn't have the talent and experience on the outside to make the passing game effective. Riley worked with NFL players like Quentin Johnston, Derius Davis and Savion Williams with the Horned Frogs. That quality simply wasn't there at Clemson.
Now it is. Antonio Williams emerged as one of the best receivers in the country as a sophomore in 2024 with 75 catches for 904 yards and 11 TDs. FreshmanTJ Moore averaged 14.5 yards a catch and grabbed five TDs, while Bryant Wesco Jr. had 17.3 yards per grab as a freshman. All three players are back in 2025 and the receiving room adds Southeast Missouri State transfer Tristan Smith. The 6-foot-5 receiver had 934 yards at the FCS level in 2024. There aren't many secondaries in the ACC that will be able to reliably cover this group.
Biggest game
Nov. 14 at Louisville
Are the two bookends against SEC opponents bigger? Possibly, especially when considering Clemson's recent struggles against teams from the Southeastern Conference. However, the Tigers got into the playoff last year via the ACC's automatic berth despite two losses to SEC opponents in the regular season, and they can easily do that again if things don't go as well as we think.
That's why the trip to Louisville on a Friday night late in the season makes this category. It comes on a short week for the Tigers after a home game against Florida State and is also the last ACC game of the season. That win vs. Pitt was Clemson's last game of the ACC season in 2024, and the Tigers were left needing help from either Miami or SMU over the final two weeks of the season to win the league title. It's a situation that Clemson does not want to be in again in 2025.
Why Clemson is No. 1
You don't have to look to far to find why Clemson hasn't been up to its national-title standards over the last few seasons. The offense hasn't averaged over 40 points per game in any of the last four seasons and the defense has allowed more yards per carry and points per game over the last three seasons compared to previous, more successful squads.
But this is the Tigers' best shot to replicate that late-2010s success. This team is loaded and it doesn't have to navigate a conference schedule like many in the SEC and Big Ten.
The biggest roster question the Tigers have is at running back. Phil Mafah was the only Clemson running back to post more than 300 yards in 2024 and he's now with the Cowboys. Jay Haynes (295 yards) averaged nearly seven yards a carry in his limited playing time in 2024 and could compete for the starting job with freshman Gideon Davidson. The four-star recruit was the No. 4 RB prospect in the class of 2024 and the top recruit in the state of Virginia. With four starters back on a very experienced offensive line, there shouldn't be a drop-off in the run game.
Clemson's roster continuity means that nine starters are back on defense. The star is TJ Parker, who had 11 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss as a sophomore in 2024. He could be the top edge rusher taken in the 2026 NFL Draft with another double-digit sack season. Having a No. 2 pass rusher to complement Parker will also go a long way; no other player had more than Brown's five sacks last season.
Head coach Dabo Swinney said in early August that it's now a race to be the first 16-0 team at the top level of college football and he believes his team can do it. While the odds of Clemson — or any other team for that matter — going undefeated in so many games are extremely slim, we think Clemson has the best chance of anyone in 2025 of accomplishing that feat.
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