Clemson Ranked 9th in Preseason USA Today Coaches Poll

Aug. 1, 2008

Clemson, SC – Clemson is ranked ninth in the USA Today preseason coaches college football poll released Friday. Clemson is first among ACC teams in the poll, leading league members Virginia Tech (15th) and Wake Forest (23rd).

Clemson has 14 starters returning from last year’s 9-4 team that finished 21st in the final AP top 25 and 22nd in the final USA Today poll. The last time Clemson was ranked in the preseason top 10 was in 1991 when Clemson’s was ninth in the preseason AP poll. That was also the last year Clemson won the ACC Championship. Georgia is the top ranked team in the USA Today preseason poll, followed by Southern California, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Florida. Defending champion LSU is ranked sixth, followed by Missouri, West Virginia, Clemson and Texas.

Clemson has finished the season ranked in the top 25 of either poll after being ranked in the preseason just once since 1993. That came in 2000 under current Head Coach Tommy Bowden when the Tigers were 19th in the preseason USA Today poll and finished 14th after a 9-3 season.

Each of the last three seasons Clemson has finished in the final top 25 (2003, 20005 and 2007), Clemson was not ranked in the top 25 in the preseason. Clemson’s highest preseason ranking in history came in 1984 and 1988 when Clemson was ranked fourth in the nation by Associated Press both seasons. Clemson finished ninth in AP and eighth in USA Today in 1988, but did not make the final top 25 in 1984.