Can't Wait For Saturday Expect a Clemson rebound after rare rough season
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Jul. 17—
Once again, I will represent the state of Illinois on The Associated Press AP Top 25 panel. It is an honor and one of my favorite parts of the job I have been doing for 38 years.
Of course, some of you won't like how I rank the teams each week and that's cool. We are all entitled to our opinions. I will take any criticism you want to deliver. If you make a convincing argument, I will change my mind.
The poll starts with a preseason Top 25 that will be released Aug. 17. To get the poll talk going, I'm going to use this space over the next month and a half to count down my Top 40.
Why 40? Because that is number of teams I usually track closely during the year, give or take a team or two.
Who is unveiled today …
— Coach Dabo Swinney has a ridiculous record in his 17 seasons: 187-53. That is more than 10 wins per year. So, when the Tigers go 7-6 — the worst season for Swinney since 2010 — it seems like more of a temporary glitch than a trend. In Dabo we trust.
He made changes on his staff, including bringing back Chad Morris as offensive coordinator. Morris was with the Tigers during an earlier successful run.
— Swinney had been reluctant to dive into the transfer portal pool in the past. But the barely-.500 season made him rethink his position. He dipped in his toes, adding 11 players at key spots. Several of the newcomers will end up starting or contributing on defense.
— Receiver T.J. Moore is back after catching 52 passes for 837 yards and four scores.
Longtime backup Christopher Vizzina is the most likely starting quarterback. He threw 71 passes last year in relief of Cade Klubnik.
Sept. 5 at LSU. The best way for the Tigers to show they are back is to beat the other Tigers at the other Death Valley. Got to figure most of the college football world will be rooting for Clemson in Lane Kiffin's opener. Clemson's other chance to prove it is back is Oct. 3 when Miami visits. The teams didn't play in 2025.
29. Florida SEC
30. Illinois Big Ten
31. South Carolina SEC
32. Arizona Big 12
33. Virginia Tech ACC
34. Auburn SEC
35. Kansaas State Big 12
36. Georgia Tech ACC
37. Pitt ACC
38. Arizona State Big 12
39. Virginia ACC
40. UCLA Big Ten
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