National analyst: ‘Put your big boy britches on, lil ol’ Clemson’

A national college football analyst recently released his preseason top 25 rankings ahead of the upcoming season. FOX’s RJ Young has Clemson at No. 10 in his preseason top 25. Alabama is No. 1 in Young’s rankings, followed in order by Ohio State, …

A national college football analyst recently released his preseason top 25 rankings ahead of the upcoming season.

FOX’s RJ Young has Clemson at No. 10 in his preseason top 25.

Alabama is No. 1 in Young’s rankings, followed in order by Ohio State, Texas A&M, Georgia, Utah, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Baylor and Arkansas, with Clemson rounding out his top 10.

Explaining his ranking for the Tigers, here’s what Young wrote:

As a rule, I usually dock teams for losing both coordinators and their defensive line coach — one of the two most pivotal position coaches on any staff — but if there is any head coach who can endure such seismic change, it’s Dabo Swinney.

If offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter can flip quarterback DJ Uiagalelei into the kind of quarterback his talent foreshadows, Clemson could find itself back in the CFP this season.

Put your big boy britches on, lil ol’ Clemson.

Young has seven SEC teams — Alabama (No. 1), Texas A&M (No. 3), Georgia (No. 4), Arkansas (No. 9), Ole Miss (No. 17), Kentucky (No. 21) and Tennessee (No. 25) — in his rankings, while he just three ACC teams in his rankings with NC State (No. 18) and Miami (No. 19) joining Clemson.