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Clemson Football
Clemson debuts at No. 2 in AP Preseason Poll
CLEMSON, S.C. — The Clemson Tigers will enter the 2018 football season ranked No. 2 in the nation, according to the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll released on Monday. The No. 2 ranking matches the team’s spot in the initial USA Today Coaches Poll released on Aug. 2.
The No. 2 ranking equals the program’s highest preseason ranking in the AP Poll all-time, matching the preseason ranking awarded to the squad that earned the school’s second national championship in 2016. It marks the fifth Top 5 preseason ranking in the AP Poll in school history, including 1984 (No. 4), 1988 (4), 2016 (2) and 2017 (5).
Clemson has now been ranked in the AP Top 25 in the preseason in seven consecutive years, the second-longest such stretch in school history. The Tigers garnered a Top 25 preseason ranking from the AP in eight consecutive years under three different head coaches across the 1987-94 seasons.
Under Head Coach Dabo Swinney, Clemson has met or exceeded its preseason ranking in the final AP poll in each of the last seven seasons. Swinney’s seven-year streak is the longest by a coach in college football history, exceeding five-year streaks by Ohio State’s John Cooper and Kansas State’s Bill Snyder. The only time in the last seven years that Clemson did not exceed its preseason ranking was 2013, when the Tigers both opened and concluded the year at No. 8.
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS | 1st VOTES | PREV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ALABAMA | 13-1 | 1,505 | 42 | 1 |
| 2 | CLEMSON | 12-2 | 1,476 | 18 | 4 |
| 3 | GEORGIA | 13-2 | 1,350 | – | 2 |
| 4 | WISCONSIN | 13-1 | 1,271 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | OHIO STATE | 12-2 | 1,256 | – | 5 |
| 6 | WASHINGTON | 10-3 | 1,215 | – | 16 |
| 7 | OKLAHOMA | 12-2 | 1,173 | – | 3 |
| 8 | MIAMI (FL) | 10-3 | 1,027 | – | 13 |
| 9 | AUBURN | 10-4 | 1,013 | – | 10 |
| 10 | PENN STATE | 11-2 | 1,012 | – | 8 |
| 11 | MICHIGAN STATE | 10-3 | 877 | – | 15 |
| 12 | NOTRE DAME | 10-3 | 804 | – | 11 |
| 13 | STANFORD | 9-5 | 778 | – | 20 |
| 14 | MICHIGAN | 8-5 | 773 | – | – |
| 15 | USC | 11-3 | 543 | – | 12 |
| 16 | TCU | 11-3 | 533 | – | 9 |
| 17 | WEST VIRGINIA | 7-6 | 511 | – | – |
| 18 | MISSISSIPPI STATE | 9-4 | 450 | – | 19 |
| 19 | FLORIDA STATE | 7-6 | 384 | – | – |
| 20 | VIRGINIA TECH | 9-4 | 351 | – | 24 |
| 21 | UCF | 13-0 | 312 | – | 6 |
| 22 | BOISE STATE | 11-3 | 292 | – | 22 |
| 23 | TEXAS | 7-6 | 216 | – | – |
| 24 | OREGON | 7-6 | 148 | – | – |
| 25 | LSU | 9-4 | 106 | – | 18 |
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