Paul Finebaum recently joined ESPN’s First Take show to give his top three college football storylines entering the 2025 season.

The No. 3 storyline, according to Finebaum, is the “pulse of the ACC with Clemson and Bill Belichick, UNC.”

After winning the ACC Championship and making the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff last season, Finebaum sees Clemson as a bona fide national championship contender in 2025.

“I think they’re a sure thing to get back (to the College Football Playoff), and they may even be a legitimate shot at winning the title,” Finebaum said. “They have, in my mind, the best quarterback in the country in Cade Klubnik. They have an elite defense with perhaps three No. 1 (first round) picks on there.

“And Dabo Swinney, even though he’s fallen off the face of the earth for a while, he’s back now and I think this is his best team since his last national championship appearance in ’19.”

As for Belichick and the Tar Heels?

“That is a story that really is intriguing everyone, how does he do on the field? Mack Brown did not leave a great cupboard in Chapel Hill, and I think Belichick has recruited well,” Finebaum said. “Can he navigate the nuances of college football? That is really the question.”

After a Clemson open date on the weekend of Sept. 27, the multi-time national champion Swinney will lead the Tigers against the multi-time Super Bowl champion Belichick and the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill on Saturday, Oct. 4.

Finebaum’s No. 2 college football storyline ahead of the 2025 season is “will Georgia and Alabama bounce back?” while his top storyline is Texas’s “Arch Manning is the best college quarterback since Tim Tebow.”

You can watch Finebaum discuss his CFB storylines below: