Clemson Tigers Rise in New AP Poll After Chaotic Saturday

The Clemson Tigers have a new ranking in the AP Poll after another victory on Saturday.

Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers have climbed once again in the AP Poll after a 40-14 Saturday night victory over the Stanford Cardinal, though the rise was perhaps not as great as many would have hoped it to be following a chaotic day of football.

Clemson moves from No. 17 up to No. 15, still sitting behind teams like Ole Miss and Notre Dame after the Rebels lost at home to Kentucky and the Irish narrowly avoided a second loss at home against Louisville. The Tigers did climb to No. 14 in the coaches poll as well.

Here is the entire top-25:

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (40 first-place votes)
2. Texas Longhorns (19)
3. Ohio State Buckeyes (4)
4. Tennessee Volunteers
5. Georgia Bulldogs
6. Oregon Ducks
7. Penn State Nittany Lions
8. Miami Hurricanes
9. Missouri Tigers
10. Michigan Wolverines
11. USC Trojans
12. Ole Miss Rebels
13. LSU Tigers
14. Note Dame Fighting Irish
15. Clemson Tigers
16. Iowa State Cyclones
17. BYU Cougars
18. Utah Utes
19. Oklahoma Sooners
20. Kansas State Wildcats
21. Boise State Broncos
22. Louisville Cardinals
23. Indiana Hoosiers
24. Illinois Fighting Illini
25. UNLV Rebels

Clemson's rise comes on the heels of yet another dominating performance from quarterback Cade Klubnik, accounting for five total touchdowns (four through the air, one on the ground) and giving him 16 in the last three games alone. While it was not the complete onslaught that the offense had been putting up over the previous several weeks, the unit still went over 400 total yards and turned it over just once.

Next week, the Tigers will have limited opportunity to climb much further with a matchup in Tallahassee. Clemson will take on the Florida State Seminoles in a game which looked in the preseason like one of the marquee clashes in the conference this season, but now loses a ton of luster due to the fact that Florida State is perhaps the biggest disappointment in the sport this year.

Nonetheless, the Tigers would love to handle their bitter rival no matter if they are the best or the worst team in the country, and an opportunity to do just that in front of Seminoles fans is not one that Dabo Swinney and the team will take lightly.