Clemson is one of the most interesting college football teams heading into the 2025 campaign, according to ESPN’s Bill Connelly.

Connelly recently released his list of the 10 most interesting teams in college football (subscription required), and Clemson made the list.

Why are the Tigers particularly interesting, the way Connelly sees it?

He says it’s because “we’re about to learn if a former champion still has championship upside.”

“In his first 26 games starting for offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, Cade Klubnik mastered the art of safety,” Connelly wrote. “He completed 64% of his passes and threw 52 touchdown passes to only 14 interceptions, but a lack of explosiveness held Klubnik and the Tigers back. He averaged just 10.7 yards per completion in these 26 games and 9.7 in the seven Clemson lost. The Tigers advanced to the College Football Playoff last year after winning a weak ACC, but you can’t be considered an actual title threat if you so thoroughly lack big-play capabilities.

“Clemson bowed out of the CFP with a loss at Texas, but Klubnik completed passes of 30, 29, 28, 27 and 25 yards in the process, and blue-chip freshman T.J. Moore caught nine passes for 116 yards and a TD. A one-game sample doesn’t tend to tell us nearly as much as we like to think, but combined with the upside of another blue-chip freshman, Bryant Wesco Jr. (17.3 yards per catch in 2024), the Klubnik-to-Moore show offered a tantalizing glimpse at a new Clemson. That version might have decent offensive upside to go with the highest initial returning production percentage in the country.”

After winning the 2024 ACC title and appearing in the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020, Clemson (10-4, 7-1 ACC in 2024) was ranked No. 7 in the way-too-early college football top 25 rankings that ESPN released back in January.

“With this experience and potential upside, the Tigers have started out ranked pretty high in the Way Too Earlies,” Connelly wrote. “But the explosiveness will have to continue beyond a one-game sample. A new defensive coordinator will need to produce immediate improvement, too. Former Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen takes over a unit that ranked only 29th in defensive SP+ and hasn’t ranked in the single digits since 2021. There’s plenty of spring buzz about the renewed energy he’s bringing to the table, but with LSU coming to town in Week 1, he’ll have to produce immediate improvement.”

Connelly also listed LSU among the most interesting teams entering the upcoming season. The Bayou Bengals, of course, will travel to Clemson’s Memorial Stadium for the aforementioned season-opening matchup on Saturday, Aug. 30.

North Carolina was included in Connelly’s list as well, because of new head coach Bill Belichick. Belichick’s Tar Heels will take on Clemson in Chapel Hill on Saturday, Oct. 4.