Sporting News makes Clemson College Football Playoff projections

Dabo Swinney and the Tigers could meet a Big Ten team in the Orange Bowl.

Brandon Rink · Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer · Thursday, June 26 2025

Sporting News has Clemson as one of eight teams from the first 12-team College Football Playoff making a return.

This time with a much higher seed.

The national outlet has Clemson earning a No. 4 national seed by final CFP committee ranking and an Orange Bowl bid.

From there, 5-seed Penn State is picked to down 12-seed Navy at home and then continue the trend from last year by advancing on in the quarterfinals too.

"This would be the best matchup of the second round. Clemson would get a bye if it can win the ACC championship – at least we think they would. Penn State might be favored in this matchup. Both schools have memorable victories at the Orange Bowl, too, though the Lions saw their season end in Miami last year in heartbreaking fashion," said SN's Bill Bender.

Penn State is picked to lose to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl and the Buckeyes are projected to rematch their season opener with Texas in Miami Gardens.

Miami is picked to make the ACC a multi-bid league again with a 10-seed trip to Alabama.

Clemson last made a repeat CFP trip in the run from 2015-20. The first time Clemson made a Playoff return was the National Championship 2016 season.

Last season, Clemson earned the final CFP spot and seeding as the fifth-highest ranked conference champion, clinching the spot with a last-second field goal to top SMU in the ACC Championship.