Preseason rankings are aplenty, and updated versions have popped up online across various media outlets this spring, stacking up the top college football teams as things currently stand ahead of the 2025 season.
So, if you put all the post-spring top 25 rankings together, where does Clemson stand?
CBS Sports went through that exercise recently, combining six sets of updated post-spring rankings in order to come up with a composite top 25.
Here’s how CBS Sports put together the composite rankings:
Heading into summer, there are a litany of updated post-spring rankings as portal signings trickle in and two-deeps come into focus. We’ve tried to digest a few of them for a cumulative groupthink of sorts. The [six] organizations chosen for this exercise include post-spring top 25s from CBS Sports, ESPN, Sporting News, Athlon Sports, Fox Sports and Bleacher Report.
A point system was used in the average here — one designated to a first-place vote, two for a second-place ranking and so on. The 25 teams were then grouped in ascending order for this summer poll.
With all that factored in, Clemson landed at No. 4 in the composite top 25.
“Don’t sleep on ACC frontrunner Clemson’s return to the playoff and perhaps win a third national title under Dabo Swinney,” CBS Sports wrote. “Cade Klubnik threw 36 touchdown passes as a junior and has the third best odds to win the Heisman Trophy at +1100, according to DrafKings Sportsbook. And with Tom Allen now leading a defense littered with stars, the Tigers have a real shot at being a noisemaker throughout the campaign.”
Ohio State, Texas and Penn State are the top three teams in the composite rankings, respectively, while Georgia rounds out the top five behind Clemson.
Clemson’s season-opening opponent, LSU, cracked the top 10 at No. 8.
“Brian Kelly asked for players and LSU delivered,” CBS Sports wrote. “Armed with the No. 1-rated transfer portal class, the Tigers should be one of several SEC teams in contention for a playoff berth this season. If it doesn’t happen, hot seat murmurs will begin in Baton Rouge given the talent.”
Miami is No. 13 in the composite rankings, while SMU, which travels to Clemson on Oct. 18 for a rematch of last year’s ACC Championship game, is No. 20.
South Carolina, which hosts Clemson in Columbia on Nov. 29, came in at No. 15.
“The Gamecocks haven’t enjoyed this much preseason hype since the summer of 2014, when they were coming off three consecutive 11-win seasons under then-coach Steve Spurrier,” CBS Sports wrote. “Anchored by potential All-SEC quarterback LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina is looking to get over the hump and into the CFP in 2025.”