College football analyst Josh Pate has Clemson atop CFB post-spring rankings |
Grayson Mann
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- Monday, May 12 2025
CFB analyst Josh Pate, who hosts "Josh Pate's College Football Show" for CBS Sports, recently released his top 20 teams for his post-spring rankings.
Pate has Clemson at the No. 1 overall spot, with the Tigers' opening opponent in LSU slotted at No. 5. He recently used an NFL talent-related metric to forecast Clemson winning the national title. Pate did so by making a composite average of the early 2026 NFL draft outlooks that are Clemson-heavy at the top and citing that five of the last six national champions had the most first-round draft picks in the subsequent draft, and seven of the last eight national champs had the most players taken in the subsequent draft period. "The upcoming national champion will be the Clemson Tigers. Can you believe that? Good for Dabo Swinney. There will be no 'little ole Clemson.' There will be no doubting," Pate said. "There will be no hating. There will be no looking down on Clemson, none of that. If they're planning on bottling that up at any point this year, I want to get out ahead of it and tell you, no, no, no. Clemson is supposed to win the national championship this upcoming year. Whomst amongst us knew, right? The science is not going to fail us here, according to the mock draft community Clemson...3.2 on average first-rounders for the (2026) NFL draft... "I don't have to defend this, because this is not my opinion. This is science. So if it comes to pass, this will be an iconic segment," he said. "And if it doesn't come to pass...I just want the credit. I don't want the blame. Who wants blame?...It's on the science. It's not on me," Pate added in a joking tone. Other notable rankings include the defending champions in Ohio State at No. 8, Miami and Georgia Tech at 12 and 17, respectively, and South Carolina sitting at 18. Here is Pate's full list: 1. Clemson 2. Texas 3. Penn State 4. Alabama 5. LSU 6. Notre Dame 7. Oregon 8. Ohio State 9. Florida 10. Oklahoma 11. Georgia 12. Miami 13. Arizona State 14. Texas A&M 15. Illinois 16. Ole Miss 17. Georgia Tech 18. South Carolina 19. Michigan 20. Texas Tech "I just feel like they've built toward 2025... Best WR room I've seen them have in several years and they've got NFL talent on every level of the defense." 🗣️@JoshPateCFB has @ClemsonFB No. 1 in his post-spring power rankings pic.twitter.com/HGlUIIUrpy Post-spring top 20 if I had to rank them right now pic.twitter.com/BEMWCS5Hsv Well because they return QB/OC/DC/HC combo, have their best WR room in years, and feature NFL talent at every level of the defense
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