Using ESPN analytics and her knowledge of the College Football Playoff selection committee, Heather Dinich broke down 31 teams that the selection committee “might consider at some point this fall.”

Clemson, despite its disappointing 2025 campaign, is listed among those 31 teams that can make the CFP this season.

The Tigers, who own a 6-5 overall CFP record, are ranked No. 29 on the list. ESPN analytics give Clemson a 21.1 percent chance to make the playoff, but just a 0.7 percent chance to win the national championship.

Dinich, ESPN’s lead College Football Playoff insider, says she disagrees with the aforementioned analytic assessment of the Tigers.

“Clemson will be better, but how much depends in large part on its new quarterback — and even coach Dabo Swinney isn’t sure who that is right now,” Dinich wrote. “The computers also give Clemson the fourth-best chance to win the ACC, and that is why the Tigers are one of the lower teams on the list. The ACC can get two teams in the CFP, but Clemson would probably have to make it to the league title game to be one of them.”

Clemson was ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP Poll and had national title aspirations going into the 2025 season, only to end up at 7-6, the second-worst record in Swinney’s tenure.

Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Dinich pegged the season-opening showdown at LSU on Sept. 5 (7:30 p.m., ABC) as Clemson’s toughest test this year.

“This is Lane Kiffin’s opener as head coach at LSU, where the two teams will be playing a night game. Tigers vs. Tigers,” Dinich wrote. “As difficult as it will be to beat Miami on Oct. 3, Clemson will at least have home-field advantage. The unforgiving environment at LSU will be as challenging as the game.”

Dinich also weighed in on how the CFP selection committee will view Clemson, saying the committee will like it if the Tigers go 2-0 against their two SEC opponents in LSU and South Carolina.

“Clemson could have a major advantage over other contenders if it can open the season with a win against LSU and close it with a win against rival South Carolina,” Dinich wrote. “If both teams have respectable seasons, it would help offset a loss to Miami during the regular season. The head-to-head result would also be difficult for committee members to ignore as long as the records were the same. Clemson’s schedule is ranked No. 35 in the country, something the committee will appreciate.”

As for what the committee wouldn’t like about Clemson? “Losses to average ACC teams,” Dinich says.

“If Clemson is going to return to national relevance, it can’t lose at Syracuse or at Duke, even though the Blue Devils are the reigning ACC champs,” Dinich wrote. “Clemson can’t fly across the country to lose to an unranked Cal team, or stumble to a mediocre North Carolina team at home. The committee will want to see Clemson assert itself against unranked and average opponents.”

Clemson has +11000 odds to win the national title, per DraftKings Sportsbook.

Coming off its run to last season’s national championship game, Miami is the ACC team with the best chance to make the playoff (61.4 percent) and win the national title (5.4 percent), according to ESPN analytics.

After Miami and Clemson, SMU is the ACC team with the next-best chance to make the playoff at 18.5 percent, followed by Louisville (13.8 percent) and then Virginia Tech (7.3 percent).

Clemson’s archrival, South Carolina, has a 10.8 percent chance to make the playoff and a 0.4 percent chance to win the national title.

LSU is given a 39.7 percent chance to make the playoff and a 3.5 percent shot to win the national title.