EA Sports High On Clemson Offense In Preseason Power Rankings
A video game can’t tell you much about an upcoming season, but Clemson Tigers fans probably enjoyed the rating their football team’s offense got earlier this week when EA Sports released College Football 25’s top offensive power rankings.
The game, which comes out next month, had Clemson at No. 10, with an overall rating of 87.
EA Sports had Georgia at No. 1 and Oregon at No. 2, even though both teams had the same rating at 94.
Clemson opens the 2024 season against Georgia on Aug. 31.
Alabama was No. 3 and Texas was No. 4, both of which had overall ratings of 91. The next five schools all had overall ratings of 89 — No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Miami (FL), No. 8 Colorado and No. 9 Missouri.
Clemson does not get a crack at Miami in real life this season.
Four other ACC members were in the Top 25 — No. 16 NC State with an 97 OVR, No. 20 SMU with an 85 OVR, No. 22 Florida State with an 83 OVR and No. 24 Virginia Tech with an 83 OVR.
Clemson faces NC State on Sept. 21, Florida State on Oct. 5 and Virginia Tech on Nov. 9. Clemson does not face SMU, which joins the ACC this season.
EA Sports said that its development team “examined hundreds of thousands of data points to arrive at our team power rankings. With help from our friends at Pro Football Focus (PFF), the team analyzed all 134 rosters, thousands of players, years’ worth of game film, and mountains of stats, ultimately arriving at our Team Power Rankings.”
Those rankings are also subject to change when EA makes updates, presumably during the season.
The Tigers expect their offense to be powered by quarterback Cade Klubnik, one of eight returning starters from a year ago when Clemson went 9-4. He threw for 2,844 yards last season, with 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Clemson should also lean on wide receivers Tyler Brown, who led the Tigers with 52 receptions last season, and Troy Stellato, who caught 38 passes. Last year’s most productive running back, Phil Mafah, is also back after rushing for nearly 1,000 yards.
EA Sports Top 25 Offensive Preseason Power Rankings
1. Georgia - 94 OVR
2. Oregon - 94 OVR
3. Alabama - 91 OVR
4. Texas - 91 OVR
5. Ohio State - 89 OVR
6. LSU - 89 OVR
7. Miami - 89 OVR
8. Colorado - 89 OVR
9. Missouri - 89 OVR
10. Clemson - 87 OVR
11. Utah - 87 OVR
12. Penn State - 87 OVR
13. Ole Miss - 87 OVR
14. Kansas - 87 OVR
15. Arizona - 87 OVR
16. NC State - 87 OVR
17. Notre Dame - 85 OVR
18. Texas A&M - 85 OVR
19. Memphis - 85 OVR
20. SMU - 85 OVR
21. UCF - 85 OVR
22. Florida State - 83 OVR
23. Oklahoma - 83 OVR
24. Virginia Tech - 83 OVR
25. USC - 83 OVR
MATT POSTINS