Clemson Football Claims Top 10 Spot in EA Sports Power Rankings

EA Sports is high on the Clemson Tigers as College Football 25 prepares to drop next month.

Apr 6, 2024; Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Clemson during the fourth quarter head coach Dabo Swinney talks with kicker Robert Gunn III (38) during the Clemson spring football game at Memorial Stadium. / Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports

As EA Sports prepares to release College Football 25 next month, the game has the Clemson Tigers in the Top 10 of its overall power rankings, released earlier this week.

The game has the Tigers at No. 6 with an overall rating of 90.

In earlier game releases, EA had Clemson’s offense at No. 10 and Clemson’s defense at No. 5.

The only teams with an overall rating ahead of Clemson are Georgia (95 OVR), Ohio State (93), Oregon (93), Alabama (92) and Texas (92).

Clemson will open the season on Aug. 31 against Georgia in Atlanta.

These ratings are subject to change according to EA when it makes updates during the season. But, to get to the preseason ratings, EA Sports said that its development team examined hundreds of thousands of data points, analyzed all 134 FBS roster, including thousands of players.

The team also examined game film and statistics, in consultation with experts at Pro Football Focus.

The Tigers are coming off a 9-4 season in 2023, one that saw them win a bowl game but failed to reach the ACC Championship Game for the second time in the last three years. But, the Tigers have still been to the ACC title game in seven of the last nine seasons, winning all of them.

Offensively the Tigers have plenty of firepower returning from last season, including quarterback Cade Klubnik, wide receivers Tyler Brown and Troy Stellato, along with running back, Phil Mafah.

Defensively Clemson will lean on linebacker Barrett Carter, along with strong safety R.J. Mickens and Khalil Barnes.

Other ACC teams in the overall power rankings include No. 7 Notre Dame (90), No. 12 Florida State (88), No. 13 Miami (88), No. 20 Virginia Tech (87) and No. 21 NC State (87).

Of those teams, Clemson will host NC State on Sept. 21, travel to Florida State on Oct. 5 and travel to Virginia Tech on Nov. 9.

EA Sports Top 25 Overall Preseason Power Rankings

1. Georgia - 95 OVR

2. Ohio State - 93 OVR

3. Oregon - 93 OVR

4. Alabama - 92 OVR

5. Texas - 92 OVR

6. Clemson - 90 OVR

7. Notre Dame - 90 OVR

8. LSU - 90 OVR

9. Penn State - 88 OVR

10. Utah - 88 OVR

11. Michigan - 88 OVR

12. Florida State - 88 OVR

13. Miami - 88 OVR

14. Texas A&M - 88 OVR

15. Ole Miss - 88 OVR

16. Colorado - 87 OVR

17. Oklahoma - 87 OVR

18. Wisconsin - 87 OVR

19. USC - 87 OVR

20. Virginia Tech - 87 OVR

21. NC State - 87 OVR

22. Kansas - 87 OVR

23. Arizona - 87 OVR

24. Oklahoma State - 87 OVR

25. Iowa - 87 OVR