Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State and Michigan are unsurprisingly the teams that Vegas sees as the favorites to make the College Football Playoff this season.
However, this prominent college football analyst likes Clemson’s chances of cracking the four-team playoff field in 2023.
Longtime CFB guru Phil Steele said on The Paul Finebaum Show that he believes Dabo Swinney’s Tigers will find their way back in the playoff this year.
“I like the Clemson Tigers this year,” Steele said. “When you look at Clemson, I believe their over/under win total is 9.5. When I talked to Coach Swinney this year going over the team with him, he told me that this defensive line that he has coming back this year doesn’t have the star power of the 2018 group, but it’s deeper in talent and experience than that 2018 defensive line.”
That defensive line isn’t the only reason Steele is high on Clemson heading into 2023.
“They’ve got a quarterback in Cade Klubnik, they’ve got the running backs with (Will) Shipley and (Phil) Mafah, they’ve got a much-improved offensive line, a dynamite defense, 15 starters back this year, and I actually have Clemson favored in all 12 games,” Steele said. “So, the over/under 9.5 looks pretty easy for me, and I think Clemson makes its way into the playoff this year as one of those outside of those top four (favorites).”
Clemson is looking to return to the playoff for the first time in three seasons after an impressive run of six consecutive CFP appearances from 2015-20, during which the Tigers won national titles in 2016 and 2018.
The Tigers are coming off a 2022 campaign that marked their 12th straight season with at least 10 wins, and saw them win their seventh ACC Championship in the last eight seasons.
We are excited to announce our second annual Dear Old Clemson event for the freshmen football class. Come out on July 22 at 10 AM at the indoor football facility for a meet and greet autograph session with the scholarship freshmen from the 2023 class. Clemson coordinators Garrett Riley and Wes Goodwin will be attendance and speak at the event.
Get your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.
