Clemson finishes in Top 5 of AP; Coaches Poll

Clemson finished fourth in the final Associated Press and Amway/USA Today Coaches college football Polls released on Tuesday.  It marked the seventh consecutive year Clemson had a top 25 finish, now the longest streak in Clemson history.  The previous best streak of six years in a row in the final top 25 took place between 1986-91.

Alabama, 26-23 overtime winners against Georgia on Monday night, finished No. 1 in both polls, while Georgia was second. Oklahoma, with the same final record of 12-2 as the Tigers, finished third.  Ohio State was fifth in both polls.

This marked the third consecutive top-four final ranking for Dabo Swinney and the Tigers.   Clemson finished second in 2015 and No. 1 in 2016. Only Alabama has a longer streak of consecutive years in the final top 25 with 10. After the Tigers with seven straight years are Ohio State (6) and Wisconsin (5).

Clemson also extended their NCAA record streak to 7 years of never having finished lower in final AP ranking than their preseason AP ranking.

Clemson joins Florida State (1992-99) as the only ACC programs with a streak of at least three consecutive top-four finishes.

This is just the fourth top-five finish for the Clemson program.  The only year other than the last three took place in 1981 when Clemson won its first National Championship.

With the No. 4 finish after a No. 5 preseason ranking in both polls, the 2017 season marks the seventh straight year Clemson has finished at least the same as its preseason ranking.  Dabo Swinney is the only coach in FBS history to have a run of seven straight years of finishing at least the same as the preseason Associated Press ranking.  He has actually finished higher in the final ranking when compared to the preseason ranking seven consecutive years in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Clemson’s No. 4 final AP ranking marks the 52nd consecutive poll the Tigers have been included in the Top 25, the third-longest active streak in the nation behind Alabama  (163) and Ohio State (98). It is Clemson’s 43rd consecutive top 10 ranking, tied for the longest current streak in the nation with Alabama.

Clemson finished the 2017 season with a 12-2 overall record, including 8-1 vs. ACC teams.  The Tigers won their third straight ACC Championship, the longest streak for the program since winning three in a row from 1986-88. The Tigers had a 9-1 record against teams with a winning record, the most wins in the nation over teams that finished the season with a winning record.

Clemson had six wins over teams ranked in the top 25 by either AP, USA Today or the College Football Playoff Poll entering the game.  That was the most in the nation and the most in a season in school history.  Clemson has 15 top 25 wins (ranking entering the game) over the last three years.

Other Notes:

• Clemson has been ranked No. 1 in the nation at least once in each of the last three years.  Alabama is the only other school that can make that claim.
• This was the 31st season Clemson has finished with a top 25 ranking in the AP poll.
• Clemson enters the 2018 season with a school-record streak of 52 consecutive appearances in the AP Top 25 poll.
• This marks the eighth time in nine full seasons as head coach that Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have had a final top 25 ranking.
• Over the last seven years, Clemson has appeared in 106 of 113 polls.  That ranks third behind Alabama (113 of 113) and Oklahoma (109 of 113).
• Clemson defeated four teams that finish in the AP top 25.  Those teams were No. 10 Auburn, No. 13 Miami (FL), No. 23 NC State,  No.24 Virginia Tech. Clemson tied for first in the nation in victories over teams that finished the season in the top 25 of the AP poll.   Clemson, Notre Dame, Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, Ohio State, UCF all had four wins over teams that finished in the top 25.