Clemson football moves into another national outlet's Top 5 teams

Clemson is up to No. 4 in 247Sports' preseason outlook.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Monday, May 05 2025

The 2025 Clemson football team hype continues to build this offseason, and there's no better showing of that than another post-spring Top 25 moving the Tigers up.

247Sports' latest preseason outlook slotted Clemson up two places to No. 4 overall, trailing only Texas, Penn State and Ohio State.

"Dabo Swinney has to feel good about this 2025 Clemson team. It's the best roster he's had collectively since the Tigers' last national championship under his tutelage. Cade Klubnik enters Year 3 as starting quarterback coming off a 36-touchdown campaign, and Clemson will start two defensive linemen expected to go inside next year's top 10. This frontrunner in the ACC doesn't have any glaring weakness or personnel issues, which means the Tigers should be in the title conversation down the stretch this fall," 247Sports' Brad Crawford said.

Clemson's retention success for a talented roster has been an offseason storyline. The Tigers lost only one scholarship player in the last preseason transfer portal window this spring to boot (CB Tavoy Feagin).

Their opener opponent, LSU, checks in at No. 9.

"Blessed with the deepest roster he's had at LSU, Brian Kelly embarks on a season most are expecting to end in a playoff berth. That would be their first since winning 2019's national championship. LSU signed the top-rated transfer class in college football with a number of important signings on both sides of the football, including several high-end receivers and edge rushers. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier's return means this offense will be driven by one of the top players in the 2026 NFL Draft cycle," Crawford said.

The next two ACC teams are just outside the Top 10: No. 11 Miami and No. 12 SMU. Rival South Carolina is No. 17, and Louisville, at No. 23, is another team the Tigers look to exact revenge on in a road trip this season.

Clemson also moved up two places to No. 5 in a USA TODAY post-spring outlook and was ranked No. 3 overall by On3 last month.