Clemson ranks several spots below Florida State in projected preseason AP Top 25
Clemson and Florida State rank 1-2 as the projected best teams in the ACC in most post-spring Top 25 rankings ahead of the 2024 college football season.
How wide is the gap between the Tigers and ‘Noles, and which team is ahead of which (and why)? The question yields varying answers, depending on who you ask.
A recent projection of the preseason AP Top 25 poll from the folks over at College Football News shows Florida State ahead of Clemson — by a few spots.
The Seminoles crack the top 10 at No. 9 while Dabo Swinney’s team checks in seven spots below at No. 16.
It doesn’t mean that’s where the AP will rank the teams come August when it releases its actual preseason Top 25, but College Football News explains the reasons behind their projections this way:
“The goal here in the early part of summer with the preseason AP Top 25 Poll is to try getting it close and think like the voters do. This might be way too loose, but over the years 1) AP voters tend to build off the trends and momentum of the year before. 2) They like to go with teams with a quarterback they sort of know, and 3) there’s always someone new in the mix late.
How close were we last year with our projection of what it might be? We got Georgia (1), Michigan (2), and Tulane (24) right on. We were one spot off on Ohio State (AP preseason 3), Alabama (4), LSU (5), USC (6), Penn State (7), Florida State (8), Utah (14), Kansas State (16), North Carolina (21), and Texas Tech (26).”
Clemson finished at No. 20 in the final AP Top 25 poll a season ago. Florida State finished at No. 8.
Georgia is the projected preseason No. 1 with Ohio State at No. 2 in College Football News’ rankings.
