ESPN published an article this week naming 17 teams that have a shot to make the College Football Playoff this season (subscription required).

ESPN’s Heather Dinich broke down each of those playoff contenders, which are ranked in order by the chance that ESPN’s FPI gives them to make the playoff, as of July 31.

Clemson, coming off an 11-3 season in 2022, is the seventh team that appears on the list. The Tigers have a 24.2 percent chance to reach the playoff, per the FPI projection, and a 2.8 percent chance to win the national championship.

Dinich stated that she agrees with the FPI projection for the Tigers entering the upcoming campaign.

“Clemson has plenty of opportunities to impress the selection committee and a great chance to make the ACC championship game during the league’s first season without divisions,” she wrote. “Florida State is hardly the only obstacle to the CFP, though.”

Speaking of the Seminoles, Dinich unsurprisingly pointed to the highly anticipated showdown between FSU and Clemson on Sept. 23 at Death Valley as the Tigers’ toughest test of the season.

“This will be the early indicator of which team to take a little more seriously as the ACC’s best hope at a top-four team,” Dinich wrote. “FSU, led by Heisman hopeful quarterback Jordan Travis, will have already learned a lot about itself from its opener against LSU.”

Dinich also weighed in on what the College Football Playoff committee would like about Clemson, citing victories over both Notre Dame and South Carolina.

“Last year, Clemson went 0-2 against them, which is why the ACC title wasn’t enough for a top-four finish,” Dinich wrote. “If both of those nonconference opponents finish the season as CFP top 25 teams again, it will give Clemson some cushion to finish in the top four as a one-loss conference champion, or possibly even as a one-loss runner-up.”

As for what the committee wouldn’t like about the Tigers?

Another average offense, Dinich says.

“The Tigers ranked No. 72 in the country with 5.6 yards per play last year,” she wrote. “The loss to Tennessee was evidence of where Clemson was and where it needs to go.”

After winning the ACC title for the seventh time in eight years and winning 10-plus games for the 12th consecutive season in 2022, Clemson heads into the 2023 season looking to return to the playoff for the first time since 2020 after making it six straight years from 2015-20.

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