
Can Clemson reach CFP title game? Joel Klatt makes bold prediction on Tigers 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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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
College Football Playoff hopefuls: Should we buy what these teams are selling?
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Struggling Detroit Tigers need to 'get our swagger back' amid rough stretch, mental lapses
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[ MUST LISTEN: Make "Days of Roar" your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ] Every player who spoke to reporters after Tuesday's game didn't hesitate to take responsibility — no excuses — for the sloppiest game of this rough stretch. "I just look at myself," said right-hander Casey Mize, who allowed five runs (four earned runs) on 10 hits across four innings, as his ERA jumped from 2.63 to 3.40 in his last two starts. "I'm not getting them off the field quick enough and not setting the tone early and not giving us a chance to win. It's on me." "We're struggling," said Rogers, who hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning. "We just need to clean up the hustle. We're a hustle team, and we have fun. Once we get both those things back, we're going to hit the ground running." 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And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at Order your copy of 'Roar of 125: The Epic History of the Tigers!' by the Free Press at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers expect to reset after mental lapses in loss vs Pirates


USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Notable college football analyst is \n'selling' Wisconsin entering 2025 season
Wisconsin is one team that Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt is selling entering the 2025 football season. In the latest episode of his podcast, Klatt unveiled five college football teams he's buying stock in, then the five that he's selling. The Badgers were one of his five 'sells,' along with Tennessee, Syracuse, BYU and California. Notably, he's buying two of Wisconsin's upcoming opponents in Michigan and Washington, as well as Clemson, Utah and North Carolina. Wisconsin's standing is complicated entering the 2025 campaign. On one hand, the program made clear improvements, both on the roster and coaching staff. A loaded transfer class rebuilt the program's defensive line rotation, edge-rusher group and quarterback room. New offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes is also set to return the program to its pro-style roots after its ill-advised move to the air raid offense back in 2023. Klatt discusses those positive changes in his description of why he's selling the Badgers. However, one variable continues to anchor the team: the nation's top-ranked schedule. Here's what Klatt had to say: I want to be really clear. I think Luke Fickell is an excellent football coach, I really do. I'm hoping that this works out for him. And I actually think that Wisconsin could be a better team, roster-wise, this year than they were last year. But here's the problem. I don't know if that shows up in the win-loss column this year. This is one of the most difficult schedules in the still have to be better than the teams that they play. They could be underdogs in nine of their 12 games this year. Think about that... At Alabama, good luck. At Michigan. Ohio State. Oregon. Indiana. Illinois. Not to mention, they still have to play a home game against Iowa, a home game against Washington, they're at Minnesota. You look at that schedule, and I don't know if they win three games. So for this year...I can make a strong argument that Wisconsin can be a better team, but it's not going to show up in the win-loss column. That's a sell all day not about the size of the hole [that Wisconsin is in], it's about whether you can climb out of it. This is going to be a tough climb this year. Here is Klatt's full explanation (begins at the 11:05 mark): Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion