Phil Steele Ranks Clemson Behind Ohio State

Phil Steele has released his annual Preseason Top-25 and the Clemson Tigers find themselves ranked No. 2, behind an Ohio State team that they eliminated from the College Football Playoff a season ago.

Shortly after Clemson's loss to LSU in last season's national title game, many of the college football experts were already anointing the Tigers the favorite to win it all in 2020. 

However, the closer we get to the start of the season, and with a number of preseason polls starting to come out, the more apparent it is becoming that may not be the general consensus after all. 

Longtime and well-respected college football analyst Phil Steele has now released his Preseason Top-25, and the Tigers come in at No. 2. In the top spot is Ohio State, a team the Tigers eliminated from the College Football playoff last season. 

Phil Steele Preseason Top 5
1. Ohio State
2. Clemson
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Texas A&M

Steele recently appeared on "Packer and Durham Show" on the ACC Network to discuss what he expects from the league in 2020. 

“Clemson clearly to me is the best team in the ACC,” Steele said. “I don’t think the gap is as big as it was last year. Last year, it was Clemson and everybody else. This year, you’ve got some good teams in the ACC. Some Top-20 teams and I think it might be a little bit more difficult of a path than last year. It is a loaded team and they deserve to be the clear-cut favorite to get back to the playoff.”

Where Steele is expecting a majority of the improvement is in the Coastal Division. He expects it to be very competitive on that side of the conference, and his preseason rankings bare that out. 

“The ACC is a much-improved conference this year and you’ve got four legitimate teams (in the Coastal),” Steele said. “I feel a little unsure leaving Virginia out of it, but the four teams I think are the top contenders are North Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech and Pitt. I could make a case for any of them."

Including Clemson, Steele has four teams from the ACC ranked inside the Top-20. After the Tigers at No. 2, North Carolina comes in at No. 16, Miami at No. 17 and Virginia Tech at No. 18. 

Phil Steele's Top 25 (ACC teams in bold)

1. Ohio State

2. Clemson

3. Alabama

4. Oklahoma

5. Texas A&M

6. LSU

7. Georgia

8. Notre Dame

9. Oregon

10. Penn State

11. USC

12. Texas 

13. Florida

14. Wisconsin 

15. Michigan 

16. North Carolina

17. Miami

18. Virginia Tech

19. Auburn

20. Tennessee

21. Kentucky

22. UCF

23. Iowa

24. Oklahoma State

25. Memphis