Can Clemson reach CFP title game? Joel Klatt makes bold prediction on Tigers 2025 season

USA Today

5 days ago

Fox Sports lead analyst Joel Klatt is another prominent college football voice who's high on the Clemson Tigers entering the 2025 season.
Klatt, who had Clemson at No. 5 in his post-spring top 25 rankings in May and named Cade Klubnik the top quarterback in the nation entering 2025, offered fresh praise for the Tigers and coach Dabo Swinney on Monday.
In a "College Football Stock Watch" segment on his popular video podcast, "The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast," Klatt called Clemson the No. 1 team he was buying stock in heading into the new season.
Klatt explained why he's so high on the Tigers with only six Saturdays remaining until the season begins.
'Clemson is just really, really good,' Klatt says of Tigers
"Clemson is just really, really good. I think they're going to have an outstanding year," Klatt reiterated Monday. "They finished with 10 (wins) last year, snuck into the playoffs. They beat SMU in that championship game, gave Texas everything they could handle. Dabo seems to have, like, this confidence back."
"They bring back 16 starters from last year's group," Klatt continued. "Klubnik is back. Third season as a starter, third season with his offensive coordinator, Garrett Riley. Four returning starters on the offensive line. They're going to be seniors. I think the real question is running back. Gideon Davidson is a guy that's a top five running back. He will be a true freshman. I think he could have an impact for them."
Klatt shifted to the Tigers' defense and highlighted first-year defensive coordinator Tom Allen.
"Defense: loaded. Going to be one of the best defenses in the entire country," Klatt said. "New defensive coordinator, Tom Allen, he's in at DC after coming in from Penn State. They've got T.J. Parker, they've got Peter Woods, they've got Avieon Terrell at corner, Sammy Brown (at linebacker)."
Klatt believes 'loaded' Clemson could reach CFP title game
Klatt said that he was "toying" with the idea of naming Clemson a preseason pick to reach the national championship game in Miami.
"This is a team that will, for sure, be in the playoff and I think could make a deep run. I'll be pretty surprised if this is not a team in the (CFP) semifinals. And you know what? I'm toying around with, in my bracket, putting them as a team playing for the national championship. We'll just see who they play. I think Clemson is going to be incredible and again, trending upward from last season."
Klatt shares the belief held by many that the Tigers' schedule sets up nicely and that their toughest games come at the beginning and end of the regular season.
"This team is going to be loaded, and it's not a very difficult schedule. You could make a strong argument that their two most difficult games are non-conference games. They're going to have LSU in the opener, and they're going to have South Carolina (Nov. 29). I think both of those are tougher than any game they have on the rest of their schedule.
"In the ACC, they don't play Miami. They get SMU at home. They have road games at Georgia Tech and Louisville, so I think the toughest games are ... LSU, that's at home, Georgia Tech that's on the road, SMU at home, at Louisville, and then at South Carolina.
Klatt names North Carolina, Bill Belichick as 2025 college football 'buy'
Klatt's segment, featuring five teams he was buying and five he was selling for 2025, included the North Carolina Tar Heels, who Clemson will visit on Oct. 4 in Chapel Hill.
While he admits to waffling a bit on UNC, Klatt said there were two reasons he ultimately decided to buy in on the Tar Heels and first-year coach Bill Belichick: "trust and schedule."
"My (final) buy is North Carolina because I trust their coach, and they play a really favorable schedule," Klatt said before adding, "This team has a lot of transfers and it's really difficult to project what this roster is going to do. So again, this is more of a bet on Bill Belichick.
"I don't think Bill Belichick cares what all the noise is this offseason. I really don't... I think he cares about getting this roster, the team, the players, to believe that they can go out there and just do their job. If you do that, in that conference against that schedule, I don't think anyone is running away from them. So there's a good chance that this is a team that's going to be in a lot of games that they play."
Klatt praised UNC transfer quarterback Gio Lopez from South Alabama.
"Bill, along with guys like Nick Saban, will talk a lot about the fact that more games are lost in college football than won," Klatt said. "So it's not that you've got to go out there and be better than everybody. It's just that you've got to go out there and not beat yourself. You've got to be better than you. He understands that and in a lot of ways, that was The Patriot Way: don't make mistakes, be methodical.
"That's my reason for optimism, I think he can convince this roster to do that and if he does, they will be in and probably win a lot more games than you anticipate this next season."
Clemson football schedule 2025
Clemson opens the 2025 season against the LSU Tigers at Memorial Stadium in prime time on Aug. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ABC.
All times Eastern.
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