As the 2024 college football season comes to a close with Monday night’s national championship game, various outlets are starting to roll out their way-too-early rankings for the 2025 CFB campaign.

Among those who have already unveiled their way-too-early top 25 rankings for next season are Athlon Sports and The Sporting News.

Each of those national outlets placed Clemson at No. 7 in their way-too-early rankings.

Here’s what Steven Lassan (Athlon) and Bill Bender (Sporting News) had to say about the 2025 outlook for the Tigers:

Athlon Sports:

Quarterback Cade Klubnik’s return makes Clemson an easy favorite atop the ACC for 2025. Klubnik made massive progress under second-year coordinator Garrett Riley, throwing for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns en route to an ACC championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Running back Phil Mafah is off to the NFL, but Klubnik’s supporting cast remains strong at receiver with Bryant Wesco, T.J. Moore, and Antonio Williams back in ’25. Scoring points shouldn’t be a problem for coach Dabo Swinney’s team, but Clemson has defensive question marks to address this offseason. The Tigers slipped to 16th in the ACC against the run and allowed 5.5 yards a play (the highest mark since 2012). However, the bulk of the main contributors are expected to return for new coordinator Tom Allen, including rising star end T.J. Parker (19.5 tackles for loss in ’24). The schedule includes home dates versus LSU, SMU, Florida State, and Syracuse, with tricky road trips to Georgia Tech and Louisville.

Sporting News:

Dabo Swinney used the transfer portal this offseason, and he picked up Alabama linebacker Jeremiah Alexander and Purdue edge rusher Will Heldt. The world really has changed, right? Quarterback Cade Klubnik is back along with leading receiver Antonio Williams, and defensive lineman TJ Parker had 20 tackles for loss in 2023. Linebackers Sammy Brown and Wade Woodaz are back, too. The Tigers also hired Tom Allen away from Penn State as the new defensive coordinator. This will be the preseason pick to repeat as ACC champions, and that means a playoff berth.

After winning its eighth ACC title in the last 10 years and making its seventh College Football Playoff appearance, Clemson (10-4 in 2024) will open the 2025 season with a marquee matchup against the LSU Tigers at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 30.

LSU is ninth in both the Athlon and Sporting News way-too-early rankings.

Clemson’s full schedule for the 2025 campaign is still to be announced, but in addition to the season opener against LSU, Clemson’s slate will include home games against Duke, Florida State, SMU, Syracuse, Troy and Furman, as well as road contests at Boston College, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Ohio State is the No. 1 team in Athlon’s way-too-early top 25, while Texas took the top spot in Sporting News’ way-too-early ranking.

Other ACC teams in those way-too-early top 25s include Miami (No. 8, Athlon; No. 10, Sporting News), SMU (No. 17, Athlon; No. 19, Sporting News) and Louisville (No. 23, Sporting News).

Clemson’s archrival, South Carolina, is No. 12 by Athlon and No. 14 by Sporting News.