What is the best – and worst – case scenario for the Clemson football team in 2025?
CBS Sports weighed in on that in a recent article, “looking at the best and worst records imaginable” for every ACC squad this upcoming season.
For the reigning ACC champion, CBS Sports says Clemson’s best case scenario is a perfect 12-0 record during regular season play, beginning with the marquee season-opening matchup against LSU at home on Aug. 30 (7:30 p.m., ABC).
“An opening win against LSU sets the tone for an absolute war machine year, as Dabo Swinney’s Tigers celebrate the 10th anniversary of their first CFP appearance with their eighth playoff march,” CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson wrote. “Early projections that point to a handful of first-round NFL Draft picks for the Tigers are proven correct as Cade Klubnik stars with a stellar group of receivers (a couple of whom aren’t draft eligible until 2027) and the defense shines under the leadership of new defensive coordinator Tom Allen.”
On the other end of the spectrum, CBS Sports sees a 9-3 regular season as the worst case for Swinney’s team.
“Offseason hype falls flat. Clemson wins a lot of games, but gets tripped up enough to limit any chance of making the CFP as an at-large team,” Patterson wrote. “The Tigers are good enough to get off the bus, tie their shoes and win most of the games on their schedule but the season ends with little satisfaction as the they come up short in the biggest games of the year.”
Clemson went 9-3 during the regular season last year before earning a 10th win with a 34-31 victory over SMU in the ACC Championship Game – Clemson’s eighth conference championship in the past 10 seasons.
The win earned Clemson a berth in the 2024 College Football Playoff, marking the Tigers’ seventh all-time playoff berth – one berth shy of Alabama (eight) for the most in history. Clemson fought valiantly but fell on the road at Texas, 38-24, in the first round of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
Clemson’s streak of 12 straight 10-win seasons came to an end in 2023, but the Tigers won each of their final five games of that season to finish the year at 9-4. Then, last season, the Tigers posted their 14th consecutive season with nine or more wins, tying for the third-longest streak in major college football history.
Clemson is widely considered a top-five team nationally going into the 2025 campaign, with some outlets/analysts even viewing the Tigers as the No. 1 team in college football right now coming out of the spring.