The Clemson Tigers are ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press top 25 preseason poll which was released on Sunday. The Tigers received 16 first place votes.
Alabama was ranked No. 1, followed by Clemson, Oklahoma, Florida State and LSU. Ohio State, Michigan, Stanford, Tennessee and Notre Dame round out the top 10.
Three teams from the ACC’s Atlantic Division are ranked in the top 20 with one Coastal team ranked in the top 25. Louisville joins Clemson and Florida State from the Atlantic with a No. 19 ranking in the preseason poll, while North Carolina is ranked No. 22.
The SEC leads all conference with six teams in the top 25, while the Pac 12 has five teams and the ACC and Big Ten have four each. The Big 12 has three teams.
This is the highest preseason ranking ever for the Tigers in the AP Poll. Clemson’s previous high was No. 4, which it has done twice before. In 1984, the Tigers started at No. 4 before peaking at No. 2, while in 1988 they started at No. 4 before peaking at No. 3.
This is the second time under head coach Dabo Swinney that Clemson has opened a season ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll. The Tigers opened the 2013 season at No. 8 in the AP Poll.
The Tigers finished last season ranked No. 2 in the final AP Poll, the program’s second highest ranking in the final poll in history.
Clemson owned the top spot in the AP Poll the last five weeks of the regular season in 2015. That marked the first time in the program’s history the Tigers were ranked No. 1 during the regular season.
| 1 |  |
Alabama (33)
SEC
Record: 14-1
|
PV Rank
– Points
1,469 |
| 2 |  |
Clemson (16)
ACC
Record: 14-1
|
–
1,443
|
| 3 |  |
Oklahoma (4)
Big 12
Record: 11-2
|
–
1,352
|
| 4 |  |
Florida State (5)
ACC
Record: 10-3
|
–
1,325
|
| 5 |  |
LSU (1)
SEC
Record: 9-3
|
–
1,269
|
| 6 |  |
Ohio State (1)
Big Ten
Record: 12-1
|
–
1,224
|
| 7 |  |
Michigan (1)
Big Ten
Record: 10-3
|
–
1,147
|
| 8 |  |
Stanford
Pac-12
Record: 12-2
|
–
1,029
|
| 9 |  |
Tennessee
SEC
Record: 9-4
|
–
1,021
|
| 10 |  |
Notre Dame
Division I FBS Independents
Record: 10-3
|
–
1,006
|
| 11 |  |
Mississippi
SEC
Record: 10-3
|
–
718
|
| 12 |  |
Michigan State
Big Ten
Record: 12-2
|
–
710
|
| 13 |  |
TCU
Big 12
Record: 11-2
|
–
707
|
| 14 |  |
Washington
Pac-12
Record: 7-6
|
–
651
|
| 15 |  |
Houston
The American
Record: 13-1
|
–
644
|
| 16 |  |
UCLA
Pac-12
Record: 8-5
|
–
496
|
| 17 |  |
Iowa
Big Ten
Record: 12-2
|
–
484
|
| 18 |  |
Georgia
SEC
Record: 10-3
|
–
448
|
| 19 |  |
Louisville
ACC
Record: 8-5
|
–
447
|
| 20 |  |
USC
Pac-12
Record: 8-6
|
–
344
|
| 21 |  |
Oklahoma State
Big 12
Record: 10-3
|
–
316
|
| 22 |  |
North Carolina
ACC
Record: 11-3
|
–
283
|
| 23 |  |
Baylor
Big 12
Record: 10-3
|
–
280
|
| 24 |  |
Oregon
Pac-12
Record: 9-4
|
–
218
|
| 25 |  |
Florida
SEC
Record: 10-4
|
–
180
|