After the release of the preseason AP Top 25 college football rankings on Monday, ESPN published a follow-up piece listing the biggest early season games for every ranked team.
For Clemson, it wasn’t the Tigers’ season opener against preseason No. 1 Georgia that made ESPN’s list for the team’s biggest early season showdown. That went to the Tigers’ Sept. 21 game against NC State at Clemson Memorial Stadium.
The Wolfpack are ranked No. 24 in the AP poll (No. 22 in the coaches poll) and are coming off a 9-win season that included a 24-17 win over the Tigers in Raleigh last season that dropped Clemson to 4-4. Dave Doeren’s team is looking to take a big step forward in 2024 and to finally compete for a long-elusive ACC title.
ESPN’s David Hale weighed in on Clemson vs. NC State:
“We’re tempted to say the Georgia game will be the telltale matchup of the season for Clemson, but that’s like judging Clemson’s chances to win a game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos against an actual hippopotamus. It’ll be interesting, but it probably isn’t relevant to what the rest of the season will look like. The Week 3 matchup with the Wolfpack — a team that has beaten Clemson two of the past three years and is far more talented in 2024 than in either of those previous seasons — will be a far better indication of the Tigers’ ACC title hopes and something of a preview of how well Dabo Swinney’s crew will hold up two weeks later against Florida State.”
RELATED: Stewart Mandel makes his 2024 ACC football preseason predictions
NC State opens its season against No. 15 Tennessee at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in Week 1.
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