Clemson and Dabo Swinney set '16-0' goal to supplant Michigan as last unbeaten champs

The 2023 Michigan Wolverine team that went 15-0 and their way to a National Championship is lauded as being one of the most complete teams in the history of college football. They were stifling on defense and smooth and determined on offense. They were compared to an "anaconda" in the way they just slowly leaned on their opponents and gradually suffocated them throughout the game. The team was loaded with experience and a depth that has not been seen before or since. They often played 70-plus players in their games and could make personnel changes that looked like a hockey coach was in charge.

While Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines were the last team to go 15-0, they were not he first. That accolade goes to Clemson and head coach Dabo Swinney, who first went 15-0 on the way to a National Championship during the 2018 season. Entering the 2025-2026 season, Dabo and his Tigers are one of the more heavily talked about potential National Championship caliber teams. They have Heisman Trophy favorite QB Cade Klubnik and a defense that could be in the top three to five statistically all year long. Here is what Swinney said about his latest squad and his time at Clemson.

"Every year is different and every team is different, but if winning a national championship is the only way you've had a good year or you can feel good about yourself or your team or your program -- and we've won three in 130 years -- I mean, there's going to be a lot of miserable years if that's the only way you look at it. When you look at the history of college football, and we're not a perfect program, but we're a program that I think every year has got a chance," Clemson HC Dabo Swinney