Heading into the 2023 college football season, Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program have been placed all over preseason polls and rankings as analysts each have varying opinions on how the Tigers will perform next season.
Some see the Tigers as second fiddle in the ACC, with Florida State emerging as a top contender in the College Football Playoff picture. Others see Clemson remaining as the top dog in the conference that should find their way back into the CFP conversation.
Opinions are split, and it makes the Tigers a difficult team to rank heading into 2023. CBS Sports recently released an article naming the hardest teams to place in preseason polls ahead of the 2023 season, with Clemson making the list. Here is what writer Chip Patterson had to say about the Tigers.
Clemson
Big question: Have the Tigers lost the ACC’s top spot to Florida State?
Clemson won seven of the last eight ACC championships, but the Tigers have found themselves sitting behind Florida State in a number of preseason ratings and rankings heading into 2023. In fact, there is a close-to-consensus position that Clemson is not even a top-10 team, though no ratings or rankings pulled for this exercise had the Tigers lower than No. 13. But there was one outlier that drew our attention, and it’s a notable one: Phil Steele’s 2023 preseason top 40 — which he would want me to note is not the same as his power ratings — has Clemson sitting at No. 2 in the country, trailing only Georgia at No. 1. For the record, Clemson is at No. 6 in Phil Steele’s power poll, but still sitting ahead of Florida State while many other preseason rankings have the Seminoles two to three spots ahead of the Tigers.
If you believe that the hire of offensive coordinator Garrett Riley is going to unlock the best in former five-star quarterback Cade Klubnik, then I think putting Clemson ahead of Florida State is the correct move. The talent level of this roster is still extremely high, and the last two “down years” still included 21 combined wins and a pair of top-15 finishes in the final AP Top 25. But Florida State’s resurgence has done a number on Clemson’s stock, and that fight for conference supremacy is the No. 1 story in the ACC heading into the season.
It seems everyone is on board with the same thought process heading into next season. Whether you have them ranked higher or lower than FSU, the majority feel this season comes down to the Clemson offense’s success with starting quarterback Cade Klubnik and new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
As someone who expects a breakout year from Klubnik in 2023, the Tigers should compete with the best of them.
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