ESPN did a mock 2025 NCAA football tournament, with the original seeds based largely on ESPN’s SP+ projections heading into the 2025 season.

Clemson, No. 11 nationally in the initial SP+ rankings for 2025, was the No. 2 seed in the West Regional of ESPN’s 64-team college football tournament.

The Tigers fared quite well in the mock tourney, making it all the way to the national title game.

Clemson beat No. 15 Mississippi State in the first round before defeating No. 7 Auburn in the second round. The Tigers took down No. 3 Ole Miss in the regional semifinals, and then knocked off No. 1 Georgia in the regional final.

That put Clemson in the Final Four, where the Tigers got past No. 1 Ohio State, 35-28, to earn a spot in the national championship game.

“The first time these teams played was back in 1978, with Clemson winning 17-15 in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida,” ESPN’s Chris Low wrote. “It was a blah game until legendary coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson’s Charlie Bauman on the sideline late in the fourth quarter after Bauman intercepted a pass. Hayes was fired the next day. This national semifinal game doesn’t include any extracurricular fireworks that rise to that level, but Klubnik and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin provide plenty of fireworks on the field. They both pass for more than 300 yards, but freshman running back Gideon Davidson delivers the winning 24-yard touchdown run for the Tigers.”

The national championship game featured yet another rematch between Clemson and Alabama, a fellow No. 2 seed in ESPN’s mock tourney. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they came up short, falling 30-24 to the Tide.

“It’s not the first time Swinney has gone up against his alma mater in the national championship game,” Low wrote. “It happened in 2015 with Alabama winning, again in 2016 with Clemson winning and then in 2018 with the Tigers claiming their second national title under Swinney. So, now, welcome to Part 4. All the gnashing of teeth in Tuscaloosa over Kalen DeBoer’s first season as coach when he lost (gasp) four games has quieted. Alabama is playing its best football of the season with some of its younger players and veterans stepping up in key roles. But it’s the most electrifying player on Alabama’s roster, receiver Ryan Williams, who wins it for the Tide, their 19th “claimed” national championship. After Antonio Williams gives Clemson the lead with a 46-yard touchdown catch down the right sideline, Ryan Williams caps a 77-yard drive for Alabama with a 2-yard touchdown catch on a pick/rub play. Sound familiar? With Clemson fans cursing the play the same way Alabama did back in 2016, DeBoer breaks through in his second season. His statue on the Walk of Champions is up by the start of the 2026 season.”

Clemson hopes to make a run to the national title game during the college football season in 2025, coming off a 2024 campaign where the Tigers (10-4, 7-1 ACC) claimed the conference championship and made the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff field as the No. 12 seed before losing to Texas in the first round.

Clemson opens the 2025 season against LSU at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 30.