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Why This ESPN Analyst has Clemson Going to the National Championship
With multiple returning stars, the Clemson Tigers are poised to be one of the top teams in college football. Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network South Carolina / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Why This ESPN Analyst has Clemson Going to the National Championship

Originally posted on Clemson Tigers on SI
By Griffin Barfield  |  Last updated Aug 23, 2025 12:46 PM ET

The Clemson Tigers have created a tremendous amount of buzz ahead of the 2025 season, as many college football analysts have them as their top team, including Greg McElroy. 

The ESPN college football analyst put the Tigers at the top of his preseason rankings, being ahead of Penn State, Notre Dame, Texas and Alabama. 

McElroy’s choice came from the Tigers having “the fewest question marks," mostly due to the team having the highest retention rate in the FBS during the offseason. He also spoke about the team’s value in its youth.

“A lot of their best players last year were true freshmen, in some cases,” McElroy said on ESPN’s Get Up. “True sophomores, in some others. Now, that group has played multiple years together, Cade Klubnik’s going into year three as the starting quarterback and the ACC schedule... It’s more gettable than the schedule that you’ll see in the SEC and the Big Ten.” 

Going into his College Football Playoff predictions on his podcast “Always College Football,” McElroy has the Tigers finishing as the No. 2 seed, earning a first round bye for the 12-team playoff. He predicts them going 12-1 with back-to-back ACC titles.  

He mentions the tough schedule that the Tigers have to go through, having to host LSU in Week 1 while having in-conference games against SMU and Louisville, who got the best of them last season in their own stadium. Finishing the season at South Carolina is also a tough task, and McElroy believes that the team will drop one of these games throughout the year. 

Even at the end of the year, the ESPN analyst believes that the quality of Clemson will make it all the way to the national championship. He predicts a rematch with Texas in Miami to close out the year, losing again to the Longhorns and quarterback Arch Manning. 

Regardless, he sees a long season ahead for the Tigers because of the retention and experience. He expects the team to play into 2026, almost getting to the mountain top in this upcoming season. 

“I look at Clemson’s roster, top to bottom on paper, with a Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterback, with 17 starters back from a team that won the ACC a year ago, to bring nine starters back on the defensive side of the football,” he said, “it feels like this has been the year that Dabo Swinney has circled to make a run.

More From Clemson Tigers on SI


This article first appeared on Clemson Tigers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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