Clemson entered the offseason as the odds-on favorite to win the ACC next season. At least one analyst forecasts the Tigers to be a high seed in the College Football Playoff in his way-too-early rankings for the 2024 season.
CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson predicts that Clemson will be the No. 3 overall seed in the new 12-team Playoff. In the new format, the top four seeds all receive first-round byes. The No. 3 seed will then face the winner of the No. 6 vs. No. 11 matchup.
Noting Clemson’s late success in the 2023 recruiting cycle, particularly on defense, Patterson shares the general consensus that the Tigers will feature the best defensive unit in the ACC. The team will return eight of the 11 players who started in last year’s Gator Bowl victory over Kentucky, most notably linebacker Barrett Carter and defensive linemen Peter Woods and T.J. Parker.
Clemson will also return 10 of 11 players on offense who started in the Gator Bowl.
“With Year 2 of the Cade Klubnik-Garrett Riley relationship ahead, I’m expecting some steps forward on offense as well,” Patterson notes.