Fox Sports’ lead college football analyst, Joel Klatt, recently looked ahead to the 2025 campaign and gave his Way-Too-Early Top 10 teams heading into next season.
Klatt put Clemson at No. 7 and weighed in on why he ranked the Tigers there.
“Now, to be fair, this was one of the harder ones because I love Clemson and what they’re doing,” Klatt said. “I love the fact that (rising senior quarterback Cade) Klubnik is back for his third year as the starter in the same offense. Dabo Swinney is finally… wait for it… dabbling in the portal. OK, here we go! Clemson starting to dabble in the portal a little bit, so I think that their roster could be a little bit better.”
Clemson is the highest-ranked ACC team in Klatt’s list, one spot ahead of Miami at No. 8.
LSU and Michigan round out Klatt’s ranking at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively, while his top six is comprised of Penn State, Texas, Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon and Notre Dame, in that order.
South Carolina, BYU, Arizona State, Florida, Tennessee, Illinois and Alabama are some of the teams that just missed the cut for Klatt and were left out of his top 10.
“All of those teams didn’t quite make it, but very easily could’ve,” Klatt said. “… (Clemson) lost to South Carolina, who I did not include, and (quarterback LaNorris) Sellers is back for South Carolina. You see the issue.
“So Clemson, I put at the top of this entire list (of teams No. 7 to No. 10), and to be very fair, someone could have talked me into Clemson being 15th. That’s how close I think 7 to about 18 are. All the teams that I mentioned before I got into the top 10, all of them could be sprinkled into these four spots (No. 7 to No. 10). Now, all the teams in the top six, I don’t think they’re drastically better, but they’re certainly in the top six.”
Clemson (10-4, 8-1 ACC in 2024) is coming off its eighth conference title in the last 10 years and its seventh appearance in the College Football Playoff, where the 12th-seeded Tigers fell to No. 5 seed Texas, 38-24, in the first round of the inaugural 12-team CFP.
Klatt touched on some of the reasons why he included the Tigers in his top 10.
“Klubnik is there,” Klatt said. “Four of five offensive linemen back. Look what they did against Texas, even on the road. They got to the playoff, they won the ACC. The defense was not up to Clemson’s standard, and now they’re going to go out and I think they’ll be improved.”
Klatt is a fan of new Clemson defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who joined the Tigers this offseason with more than three decades of coaching experience, including his time as Indiana’s head coach (2017-23) and most recently as the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Penn State in 2024.
“Tom Allen is a very good football coach,” Klatt said. “I have enjoyed covering Tom Allen, both from his time as a head coach at Indiana and in last year as a coordinator. He’s really good, and he will improve Clemson’s defense. I don’t think there’s any question in my mind. Despite, I think a disappointment as a group, there are some pieces there on the defensive side.
“You’ve got T.J. Parker. He had 11 sacks this last year. Peter Woods in the interior, he’s a good player. Sammy Brown, a freshman All-American this last season. So, Tom Allen’s going to have some pieces. They get Will Heldt, the defensive end from Purdue. There was a couple of players for Purdue, all transferred, unfortunately for Purdue. But they were like the real foundational pieces that (former Purdue head coach) Ryan Walters was trying to build on. One of those is Will Heldt.”
Clemson’s 2025 schedule will once again feature a full seven-game home slate in Death Valley (LSU, Troy, Syracuse, SMU, Duke, Florida State, Furman) in addition to four road games against ACC opponents (Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Boston College, Louisville) and a road contest in the regular season finale at South Carolina.
Clemson opens the 2025 season on Saturday, Aug. 30 with a marquee home matchup against LSU, the No. 9 team in Klatt’s Way-Too-Early Top 10.
“Their schedule, speaking of Clemson, they open with a home game against LSU. That’s going to be great. They’re both in my top 10,” Klatt said. “They don’t play Miami in the ACC. They get SMU at home. So, I like what Clemson is doing. That’s why I’ve got them at No. 7.”