Tigers No. 3 in AP Poll

Clemson has finished in the top four of the AP poll each of the last six years, a first in Tiger history.

Unike in the Coaches Poll, which has the Tigers at No. 2, the Clemson Tigers sit at No. 3 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll, which was released on Monday. 

Clemson has finished in the top four of the AP poll each of the last six years, a first in Tiger history. Dabo Swinney became the fourth coach to record at least six consecutive top-four finishes since the AP poll began in 1936, an exclusive list that includes Florida State’s Bobby Bowden (13), Southern California’s Pete Carroll (7) and Oklahoma’s Bud Wilkinson (6). 

Clemson’s streak represents the fifth time a program has had a run of at least six top four finishes in the AP Poll. Miami (Fla.) had a seven-year run from 1986-92 with two different head coaches leading the program. • The 2020 season marked the 34th year that Clemson was ranked in the final AP poll. It was the 13th time in the last 16 years – and 10th straight year – that Clemson was ranked in the final poll. 

Clemson enters 2021 with a school-record streak of 102 consecutive AP top-25 rankings, including 93 polls in a row in the top 10, tied with Alabama for the nation’s longest active streak. The 93-poll streak in the top 10 is tied for the third-longest in poll history, behind Miami (137 from 1985-93) and Nebraska (96 from 1993-98).

The Full Top 25:

1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Clemson
4. Ohio State
5. Georgia
6. Texas A&M
7. Iowa State
8. Cincinnati
9. Notre Dame
10. North Carolina
11. Oregon
12. Wisconsin
13. Florida
14. Miami
15. USC
16. LSU
17. Indiana
18. Iowa
19. Penn State
20. Washington
21. Texas
22. Coastal Carolina
23. Lousiana
24. Utah
25. Arizona State