How Do #14 Preseason AP Poll Teams Play? Clemson’s Potential Trends

It’s been six years since Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers last finished atop the college football world, with South Carolina’s lone ACC member reaching the CFP final again but falling short in 2019.

Since then, things have only gotten worse for little old Clemson, with Swinney posting a 40-12 record but failing to reach the CFP in each of the last four seasons, including last year’s 9-4 campaign that saw them earn a Gator Bowl victory over Kentucky to close out the year.

This year, the Tigers enter at No. 14 in the AP preseason top 25, marking Clemson’s lowest place on the list since coming in at No. 16 in 2014, snapping the Tigers streak of eight straight seasons ranked inside the poll’s top 10.

Clemson Vs Georgia is the season opener in Atlanta on Aug. 31, BetCarolina.com - your home for North Carolina sports betting coverage - broke down how the last three teams ranked 14th nationally in the AP poll fared at year’s end.

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Trends of # 14 Seed In College Football Preseason AP Poll

Situation	Result
Average Record	9-4*
Average Winning Percentage	.661*
New Year’s 6 Bowl Game Appearance	1 of 3
Final AP Poll Top 25 Appearance	1 of 3

*Rounded to nearest whole number

How Have Teams In Clemson’s Shoes Fared?

Since 2021, the three teams that were ranked 14th in the preseason poll combined to go 26-13 (.667), with two of the three failing to finish the season ranked at all and none of the three making the CFP.

The lone “success story” of the three was USC in 2022, which went 11-3 in Lincoln Riley’s first season in Tinseltown before getting handed a 46-45 upset loss in the Cotton Bowl by Tulane.

Conversely, the other two teams (Utah in 2023 and Miami in 2021) went 8-5 and 7-5, respectively, with the Utes losing to Northwestern by a 14-7 score in the Las Vegas Bowl while the Hurricanes didn’t play in a bowl game at all in 2021.

This year, Swinney and the Tigers will look to pull an upset in Week 1 over the hometown Bulldogs inside Mercedes Benz Stadium, with the team at Caesars Sportsbook North Carolina giving Clemson +460 odds of springing the upset in Atlanta.

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Will Clemson Return to Form in 2024?

Given the lofty standards that Swinney set for Clemson between 2015 and 2019, when the Tigers made the CFP four times (2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019) and won it all twice (2016 and 2018), it’s somewhat fair to call the last four years a bit of a dud for the Tigers.

Fair or not, it looks like Clemson’s going to have to spring a few upsets to get back to the CFP, with Caesars Sportsbook giving the program +3500 odds of winning it all this season, while the Tigers have +160 odds of reaching the CFP at all in 2024.

For now, Swinney and company will set their sights on the Bulldogs in a virtual road game come Week 1, with the Tigers needing to play at their best to beat UGA in Atlanta on Aug. 31.

BetCarolina.com will continue to bring you coverage of the Clemson Tigers this season along with exclusive North Carolina sportsbook promo codes.

Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan is a lead writer at BetCarolina.com specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.