247Sports ranks Clemson in top-5 programs entering 2023 season

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told ESPN this week that his program has "never been better."

by TigerNet Staff - Wed Mar 29 10:25:27 GMT-04:00 2023

Preseason expectations coming off of two consecutive missed College Football Playoffs have been lowered for Clemson football, and quite often the Tigers are found behind former division rival Florida State in those early rankings.

When it comes to ranking the programs, however, 247Sports' Josh Pate takes a different spin and rates the Tigers at No. 5 in the game right now.

"You could argue this is low for them, and I would entertain that argument...Certainly I'm not going to entertain anyone saying they're overrated," Pate said on his college football show. "There's this alternate standard-- almost like a Alabama-like comparison in the sense that people have entered an alternate universe with Clemson. They just have this total alternate standard where they're judged against past Clemson teams instead of being judged against the rest of the sport. And what I mean by that is, what is your perception of Clemson right now?

"It's probably negative -- probably a net negative compared to what they've been in years past, which is OK, because I don't think they're as good as they've been in years past."

Pate then made his case for the Tigers being in that top-5.

"And even having said, do you understand what this program has done? Double-digit wins every year since 2011. We're talking about the snapshot of a program right here. We're talking about rating a program. They've played for four titles in that span and won two of them," Pate said. "They've won the conference there seven of the past eight years. They are so good as a program that they're winning double-digit games and it's being considered a disappointment. I join in that chorus in considering a year like last year, a disappoinment, and I'm ready, willing and able to acknowledge because they have elevated the standard there.

"It's the great consequence of success. All of a sudden people set the new baseline. They recalibrate their expectations, but Clemson is sitting at No. 5...If you wanted to argue with me they belong even higher than that, I think you could make a good argument."

Georgia paces the program rating, followed by Alabama, Michigan and Ohio State.

This week, Dabo Swinney told ESPN that his program has never been in a better position.

"People, they need stories and it's a story if Clemson went to six playoffs in a row and then didn't make it. What's wrong with them?" Swinney said. "There's nothing wrong with Clemson. There's nothing wrong with our program. In fact, I would argue, honestly, our program has never been better...

"Our people, the kids on this roster, the talent, our coaches, our support staff, our administration, our infrastructure, our connectivity. I'm better now than I've ever been as a head coach. It's not even close, where I am now to where I was in '13, when we won our first BCS game. Never been better."

Behind Clemson on Pate's list are Notre Dame, Penn State, Utah, Southern Cal and Oklahoma.