In one week the madness begins and it has nothing to do with basketball.

A week from today, Clemson will begin its defense of its national championship as the Tigers’ football team take the practice fields for spring drills. That’s right football is already back, at least for the next six weeks anyway.

Clemson will conclude spring practice on April 8 with the annual Orange & White Spring Game at 3 p.m. at Clemson Memorial Stadium.

Obviously, this spring will be one of the more exciting ones in the last 35 years as the Tigers come back as reigning national champions. Clemson will return five starters on offense and seven starters on defense.

The obvious question marks will come on offense as Dabo Swinney and his staff has to find new starters at quarterback, running back, tight end and wide receiver. Gone is quarterback Deshaun Watson, running back Wayne Gallman, tight end Jordan Leggett and wide receivers Mike Williams and Artavis Scott. Those five players contributed to 84 percent of the Tigers’ 7,552 total yards and 89.3 percent of their 75 total touchdowns in 2016.

The Clemson coaches must also find a replacement for Jay Guillermo at the center position. He started the last 28 games at the position since 2015 and was a two-time First-Team All-ACC center.

On defense, and for the first time in three seasons, the Tigers don’t have to replace seven or eight starters from the year before. However, the losses they do have will be big losses.

All-American Carlos Watkins is gone at defensive tackle after two great years as a starter there, while they also have to find a replacement for All-American linebacker Ben Boulware, who was the heart and soul of the Tigers’ defense the last two seasons as well as its leading tackler.

Also gone is All-American cornerback Cordrea Tankersley, who has had nine interceptions the last two seasons as well as 22 passes broken up, by far the best of any Tigers’ defensive back. Then there is safety Jadar Johnson, a First-Team All-ACC performer, who will be difficult to replace. In his one year as a starter he led the Tigers with five interceptions and was the quarterback of a secondary that was much improved in 2016.

On special teams, punter Andy Teasdall has exhausted his eligibility, while holder Seth Ryan decided he wanted to move on after graduating and will not return. The Tigers also have to find a new long snapper now that David Estes has finished his college career.

So, as you can see, there is plenty of work to do this spring for Clemson if the Tigers want to successfully defend their national championship in 2017. Granted, there is plenty of talent on the roster to find suitable replacements, but it will be interesting to see who those replacements might be and how long it will take for them to develop into their new roles as starters.

It should be a fun spring and it should be a little appetizer on what we should expect to see when fall camp opens in August.

We are now taking orders for our limited edition magazine Mission Accomplished. Remember Clemson’s championship season with this great magazine from the staff that covers Clemson football 365 days a year. Order your’s today to make sure you get a copy!