Clemson starts season in Top 5 in AP preseason poll

Clemson is ranked No. 5 in the preseason AP Poll, which was released Monday morning.

The Tigers, the defending national champions, are behind No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Florida State and No. 4 Southern California.

Alabama is ranked No. 1 to open the season for the second consecutive year and the third time in five years. The Crimson Tide received 52 votes from a panel of 61 media members.

Clemson beat three of the four teams ranked in front of it last season with each of the wins coming on the road or at a neutral site.

The Tigers topped FSU in Tallahassee during the regular season before knocking off the Buckeyes and Alabama in the College Football Playoff.

Clemson opens the season Sept. 2 against Kent State as it begins the post-Deshaun Watson era.

The Tigers play four teams ranked in the top 25 in 2017 with three of the games coming in the first month of the season. Clemson faces No. 12 Auburn, No. 16 Louisville and No. 21 Virginia Tech in September. The Tigers also face No. 3 FSU in November.

CONFERENCE CALL

Alabama is the only Southeastern Conference team in the top 10, but the SEC still leads the way with six teams in the Top 25. Auburn is No. 12 and LSU is right behind at 13. SEC East rivals Georgia (No. 15) and Florida (No. 17) follow and Tennessee is No. 25.

The standings:

SEC – 6

ACC – 5

Big 12 – 5

Big Ten – 4

Pac-12 – 4

American – 1

This story was originally published August 21, 2017 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Clemson starts season in Top 5 in AP preseason poll."