In an episode of his Always College Football show, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy ranked Clemson at No. 18 in his preseason Top 25 rankings entering the 2026 college football season.
McElroy’s view is notably more bullish on Clemson than the official preseason Coaches Poll, where the Tigers debuted at No. 23 following their disappointing 7-6 finish last season.
McElroy is optimistic about Clemson’s talent on both sides of the ball and noted that placing the Tigers at No. 18 signals confidence they will “beat somebody they’re probably not supposed to beat.” However, while he clearly considers Clemson a dangerous team, he expressed reservations about calling them a definitive College Football Playoff contender due to a tough ACC slate and the marquee non-conference hurdle at LSU to open the campaign.
“The offensive line has just two starters back, which is a real concern, and they open at LSU on September 5, which is gonna be a really good team,” McElroy said.
“18th right now for Clemson is saying that they’re going to beat somebody they’re probably not supposed to beat. But I am not paying August prices for a resurrection right now. I think they’re going to be good. I think they’re going to be real good. I just don’t know if they’re quite a playoff contender because there is, I think, a tougher path in the ACC than some might suggest.”
Another point of caution for McElroy, when it comes to Clemson, is the roster turnover from last year, though the Tigers did help mitigate the loss of nine 2026 NFL Draft picks and double-digit transfer portal departures by bringing in a program-record number of players from the portal this offseason.
“Clemson, they led the entire country in returning production heading into last year and went 7-6. This year, they returned 53 percent of their production, which ranked 60th nationally, and they bring back just 10 starters,” McElroy said.
“Clemson had a bunch of guys drafted last year in 2026. They had nine. That’s a school-record-tying number for a team that finished just barely above .500, which tells you the talent wasn’t ever really the issue. They lost 14 players to the portal and responded with the largest incoming transfer portal class in program history. They brought in 11 guys.”
On the offensive side of the ball, led by new coordinator Chad Morris, McElroy praised the Tigers’ elite wide receiver room featuring stars like T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr. He believes the supporting cast of playmakers will elevate the offense and act as a “crutch” for the first-year starting quarterback in Christopher Vizzina or Tait Reynolds.
“Now the fix is on offense, and it’s a familiar face. Chad Morris is back running that offense. The quarterback situation is the first real competition Clemson has had since 2018,” McElroy said. “Christopher Vizzina is the guy to start with, and as Dabo has said, he’s got the pole position. Now he has one real audition on tape as well, so he started the midseason game last year against SMU. Threw for over 315 yards and three touchdowns. Behind Vizzina is Tait Reynolds, who has kind of shaken up the race a little bit, and Dabo made a point of saying that they deliberately did not go get, in his words, ‘a shiny object out of the portal.’
“What makes me comfortable, though, is that I look at what Vizzina and/or Reynolds — what they have to throw to. They have Bryant Wesco, who did a great job in just seven games last year, went for over 530 yards. Had a season-ending injury, but he’s full-go for camp. T.J. Moore led the team last year, had over 830 yards. That’s a really good one-two punch. You also got Naeem Burroughs as a breakout candidate, that everyone in the building keeps bringing up. You also have a couple really good pieces at tight end. So you have an elite receiver room, a pretty good crutch to hand a first-time starting quarterback.”
Within the ACC, McElroy previously grouped Clemson in Tier 2 alongside SMU and Louisville, placing that trio behind the only Tier 1 team in Miami, which he considers the conference’s lone national championship contender.
When he released his ACC tiers, McElroy stated that Clemson’s entire season may hinge on the quarterback position.
“The entire season might hinge on just one question — it’s the quarterback,” he said. “Cade Klubnik had 40 career starts, and he’s gone. And Dabo, being Dabo, he didn’t necessarily want to go and get a portal quarterback. He said, look, Christopher Vizzina has been sitting here, and he’s been ready. He’s been waiting for this opportunity. This is a fourth-year player with one career start. But here’s the thing about that one start — it came against SMU, and Vizzina threw for 317 and three touchdowns. If that guy shows up, this could very easily become a playoff team.”
Clemson’s in-state rival, South Carolina, “just missed the cut” for McElroy’s Top 25.
LSU made the Top 15, coming in at No. 14.