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by WILL FOLKS
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Clemson University’s football team isn’t breathing the same rarified air as it was entering the 2025 season, but head coach Dabo Swinney‘s Tigers are still starting the 2026 campaign in the national rankings.
According to the preseason edition of the U.S. LBM college football coaches’ poll, Clemson is the No. 23 team in the nation – joining fellow ACC programs Miami (No. 7) and SMU (No. 20) in the Top 25.
Swinney’s team has been ranked in the coaches’ preseason poll in each of the last fifteen years – although this year’s ranking is its lowest jumping off point since the 2011 Tigers started their season unranked. Led by then-sophomore quarterback Tajh Boyd, that team climbed as high as No. 5 in the national rankings before dropping four of its last six games.
Clemson is coming off of a disappointing 7-6 season, the program’s worst record since 2010. Prior to last season, the Tigers had finished the previous fourteen seasons in the national rankings – including thirteen straight Top 20 finishes, eight Top Ten finishes, seven playoff appearances, four title game appearances and a pair of national championships (in 2016 and 2018).
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Faced with a critical offseason decision at the offensive coordinator post, Swinney tapped former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris to reprise the role he held from 2011-2014. The Tigers will also have a new quarterback under center as senior Christopher Vizzina is expected to inherit the reins of the offense from three-year starter Cade Klubnik, who was picked in the fourth round of this year’s NFL draft by the New York Jets.
Vizzina completed 45 of 71 (63.4%) of passes for 406 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in five appearances last season – including one start (a loss at home to SMU on October 18, 2026). The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Birmingham native also picked up 41 yards rushing.
While Clemson’s inclusion in the preseason Top 25 was not surprising, early enthusiasm for its in-state rival caught many college football fans off-guard.
South Carolina didn’t crack the national rankings, but head coach Shane Beamer‘s squad came much closer to doing so than anyone expected. Beamer’s Gamecocks – recently picked to finish No. 11 in the SEC – were not among the nine SEC teams included in the preseason rankings, but they did receive 50 votes – putting them just five spots out of the rankings.
Not bad for a program coming off of a painfully underwhelming 4-8 season…
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The problem? South Carolina has six games on tap against opponents ranked in the coaches’ Top 25.
The Gamecocks’ 2026 slate includes games against No. 3 Georgia (November 21 at home), No. 8 Texas A&M (November 7 at home), No. 9 Oklahoma (October 31 in Norman), No. 11 Alabama (September 26 in Tuscaloosa), No. 18 Tennessee (October 24 at home) and No. 23 Clemson (in Death Valley on November 28).
South Carolina must also play Florida in the Swamp on October 10, with the Gators likely to be ranked at that point after missing the preseason Top 25 cutoff by just 11 votes.
All told, nine SEC teams were ranked in the Top 25 – the most of any conference – although the Big Ten paced the poll with Ohio State and Oregon ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Ohio State easily led all teams with 38 first-place votes. Defending national champion Indiana ranked No. 6 in the poll, but second in first-place votes with 14.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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