The Clemson Tigers are the fifth-best team in the country right now. The ACC favorites earned that spot in the preseason AP Poll, and they look like they have the talent to back it up. That ranking might be a little bit on the high side, though, according to SP+ and ESPN insider Bill Connelly.
Connelly explained SP+ as "a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football." It has nothing to do with resume, and it's not predicting the final AP top 25. It also isn't quite as sold on Clemson this year.
"Clemson is projected to improve rather significantly this season," Connelly said. "But since the Tigers have averaged only an SP+ ranking of 18.5 over the past four seasons -- and needed major turnovers luck to win the ACC last year -- major improvement simply brings them into the top 10."
Connelly also added that 2025 is the year the football world finds out if Dabo Swinney can still craft a title-winning roster, something he hasn't done in seven years. Fortunately, 10th is far from outside contender status, and it's still a very good ranking, best in the ACC by a few spots.