For the first time in 15 years, Clemson will begin a season outside the preseason AP Top 25.
The Tigers were the first team left out of the rankings released on Monday, receiving 112 points and finishing just behind No. 25 Missouri, which collected 117. Clemson did make the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll earlier this month at No. 23, creating an unusual split between the two major polls.
It is another connection between the upcoming 2026 season and 2011, the last time Clemson entered a year unranked by the AP. That team was coming off a 6-7 season and had recently brought Chad Morris to Clemson to inject life into the offense. Fifteen years later, Dabo Swinney has again turned to Morris after the Tigers finished 7-6 in 2025, their worst record since that 2010 campaign.
Clemson also isn’t entering the season as the favorite in its own conference. The Tigers were picked fourth in the ACC preseason media poll behind Miami, SMU and Louisville. Miami begins the year ranked No. 7 in the AP poll, while SMU is No. 19 and Louisville is No. 24.
For Swinney and Clemson, though, the lack of preseason hype could provide an opportunity to return to something the program once did extremely well: thrive as the underdog.
Some of Swinney’s best Clemson teams were built before the Tigers became the program everyone expected to win. There was a time when Clemson was chasing Florida State, Alabama and the rest of college football’s established powers rather than being judged against the championship standard it eventually created. Swinney built much of the program’s identity around proving people wrong, and the 2026 Tigers suddenly have a chance to play with that mentality again.
ESPN analyst predicts Clemson will compete with Miami, improvement certain
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) August 18, 2026
📸 Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network, USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co https://t.co/uua4TqtOS3pic.twitter.com/Z2H9chVJTb
They won’t have to wait long for an opportunity to change the conversation.
Clemson opens the season on Sept. 5 against No. 11 LSU in Baton Rouge, where Swinney’s Tigers will immediately get a national stage against a ranked opponent. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
After years of entering seasons with massive expectations, Clemson finds itself in unfamiliar territory. Maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.
The Tigers have spent plenty of time being the hunted. In 2026, Swinney gets another chance to see what Clemson can do when it is doing the hunting.
Contact us at @Clemson_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news, notes and opinion.
This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Can Dabo Swinney’s first unranked Clemson team in 15 years shock everyone?