Clemson opened the 2026 season ranked No. 23 in the preseason Coaches Poll, only to fall out of that Top 25 after suffering a 51-10 loss at LSU in Week 1.

Now, after bouncing back with consecutive wins over Georgia Southern and most recently North Carolina last Saturday, the Tigers (2-1, 1-0 ACC) are still unranked but did receive three votes in the latest Coaches Poll.

As for where Clemson stands in various national college football rankings right now, the Tigers are ranked in the No. 50-60 range by The Athletic, USA Today and CBS Sports.

The highest of those rankings comes from The Athletic’s ranking of all 138 FBS teams. Clemson moved up nine spots to No. 52 after Week 3.

“Clemson climbs back toward the top 50 after a comeback win against North Carolina,” The Athletic wrote.

Clemson is two spots lower in USA Today’s re-rank of every FBS team, coming in at No. 54. The Tigers surged up 20 spots in that ranking after Week 3.

Meanwhile, despite the win over UNC, Clemson slipped two spots down to No. 57 in the CBS Sports 138 rankings.

ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) — a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward — currently has Clemson at No. 42.

Clemson will play a conference game on the West Coast for the first time in school history on Friday night when the Tigers face the Cal Golden Bears (2-1, 1-0 ACC) at Cal Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Clemson currently enters the matchup as a 1.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. It will be the second all-time meeting between Clemson and Cal, as the teams’ lone previous meeting came in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day in 1992 (a 37-13 Cal win).