In the preseason, ESPN personality Paul Finebaum was among the analysts who were singing Clemson’s praises and lauding the Tigers as a bona fide national title 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 back in July. “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.”

Fast forward to the present, and after Clemson’s 1-2 start to the 2025 campaign, Finebaum’s opinion on the Tigers is starkly different.

Now, Finebaum is out on Clemson. In fact, he went so far as to say that the “season is over” for Dabo Swinney’s team.

“Clemson’s season is over,” Finebaum said Sunday on The Matt Barrie Show with ESPN college football studio host and commentator Matt Barrie.

“You could say, ‘Well, hold on. Remember what they did last year?’ Yeah, I remember what they did last year, but they’re not doing that this year. Somebody has either kidnapped Cade Klubnik, because that’s not the same player. I gave him a pass after one game, but not anymore. Something’s going on there. And the problem they have is that last year, the ACC was weak. The ACC, this year, it’s not — it’s a good league. So, I don’t know how they can find a path back. They can [undo] some of the damage themselves, but that might not be enough.”

Saturday’s 24-21 loss at Georgia Tech ended Clemson’s nine-game winning streak against the Yellow Jackets and dropped the Tigers to 1-2 to start a season for the first time since 2014, Deshaun Watson’s freshman year.

Barrie added that “something’s not right” with Clemson, echoing the sentiments of ESPN colleague and former Florida State quarterback EJ Manuel.  

“I take my cues from people who are really embedded in the league, and this year for us, that’s my guy in studio, EJ Manuel. And he said it on TV – he’s like, something is not right with Clemson, something is not right,” Barrie said.

“Congratulations [Georgia Tech head coach] Brent Key, because they snapped a losing streak, eight straight against Clemson, and they’re going to be a contender now in the ACC. But something’s not right, and I don’t know what it is, I don’t know when they’re going to find it.”

Barrie pointed out that Clemson’s chances to make the College Football Playoff, according to ESPN’s Playoff Predictor, have fallen all the way to 5%.

“We’ll see what they do, because there’s still football left,” Barrie said. “But they’re [in] an uphill climb.”