There’s been no shortage of hype around Clemson entering the 2025 season, with the Tigers drawing a plethora of praise from various college football pundits. And yet another national voice is very high on Dabo Swinney’s team heading into the upcoming campaign.
Longtime FOX Sports college football play-by-play announcer Tim Brando has released his top 15 college football teams for 2025. It should be noted that his preseason rankings are a projected order of finish – where he thinks those teams will be at the end of this season.
With that said, Brando has Clemson all the way up at No. 2 on his list, behind only defending national champion Ohio State.
Brando joined the Crain & Company show to break down his list, and he explained why he’s bullish on Swinney’s squad, which of course beat SMU in the 2024 ACC Championship Game to earn a berth in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff last season.
“We’re talking about a reenactment of those days when Dabo had it going on,” Brando said. “Because he’s got a defensive front right now that’s really, really good. He’s got the quarterback returning. A team that smelled it last year when they went to Texas [for the College Football Playoff first-round game]. And you know what, they represented themselves really, really well.
“People were throwing dirt on Clemson like you wouldn’t believe, right. They almost let SMU pull it off. They let them off the hook. And then because they didn’t go to the portal, they didn’t do what they should have done for a couple of years, they took a little bit of a beating. He got the memo, and I think you’re going to see a team now that resembles, particularly the defensive front – it’s going to be the kind of defensive front that they used to have in those years when they were able to beat Alabama two out of three opportunities and win national championships. So, I love that team.”
Two spots behind Clemson, Brando has LSU ranked No. 4. Of course, the two teams are set for their season-opening showdown at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium on Aug. 30 (7:30 p.m., ABC).
You can see Brando’s full top 15 below: