Where Clemson and South Carolina landed in preseason AP Top 25 football poll
College football’s biggest preseason poll is here.
Once again, Clemson and South Carolina are in the mix.
Clemson debuted at No. 4 and USC appeared at No. 13 in the first 2025 Associated Press Top 25 poll of the season, which was released Monday.
This is Clemson’s 14th straight season appearing in the preseason AP poll but its highest ranking in three years (No. 4 in 2022). South Carolina earned a preseason AP ranking for the first time in 11 years (No. 9 in 2014).
The top 5 teams in the preseason AP poll are No. 1 Texas (25 first-place votes), No. 2 Penn State (23), No. 3 Ohio State (11), No. 4 Clemson (4) and No. 5 Georgia (1).
Monday’s preseason AP rankings were another example of the hype surrounding the state of South Carolina’s two largest football programs entering the season.
Last year, Clemson went 10-4 (7-1 ACC), won the ACC championship and appeared in its first College Football Playoff since 2020. Coach Dabo Swinney’s Tigers lead the nation in returning production and bring back 16 of 22 starters, including senior quarterback Cade Klubnik.
South Carolina had a stellar 2024 season, too, going 9-4 (5-3 SEC) and remaining in the mix for a 12-team CFP spot until early December. The Gamecocks and coach Shane Beamer return star QB LaNorris Sellers, DE Dylan Stewart and others.
VegasInsider.com currently has Clemson’s season-long win total over/under at 9.5 wins and South Carolina at 7.5 wins. The Tigers were picked as the 2025 preseason ACC champion, and USC was picked to finish fifth in the SEC this season.
The Tigers ranked No. 6 and the Gamecocks ranked No. 13 in the 2025 USA Today preseason coaches poll, which was released Aug. 4. The AP poll and coaches poll are considered the sport’s two major polls (with the AP poll being more prominent).
The AP poll will have 65 weekly media voters this season.
2025 AP Top 25 preseason poll
Listed by total voting points; first-place votes in parentheses
No. 1 Texas, 1552 (25)
No. 2 Penn State, 1547 (23)
No. 3 Ohio State, 1472 (11)
No. 4 Clemson, 1398 (4)
No. 5 Georgia, 1331 (1)
No. 6 Notre Dame, 1325
No. 7 Oregon, 1236
No. 8 Alabama, 1179
No. 9 LSU, 1179
No. 10 Miami, 889
No. 11 Arizona State, 791
No. 12 Illinois, 713
No. 13 South Carolina, 667
No. 14 Michigan, 662
No. 15 Florida 626
No. 16 SMU 565
No. 17 Kansas State 512
No. 18 Oklahoma 463
No. 19 Texas A&M 434
No. 20 Indiana 423
No. 21 Ole Miss 370
No. 22 Iowa State 309
No. 23 Texas Tech 274
No. 24 Tennesssee 192
No. 25 Boise State 191
Others receiving votes
BYU, 156; Utah, 144; Baylor, 132; Louisville, 90; Southern Cal, 64; Georgia Tech, 63; Missouri, 33; Tulane, 23; Nebraska, 23; UNLV, 21; Toledo, 13; Auburn, 10; JMU, 9; Memphis, 9, Florida State, 8; Duke, 6; Liberty, 5; Navy, 5; Iowa, 5; TCU, 4; Pitt, 3; Army, 2; Colorado, 1; and Louisiana, 1.
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 1:02 PM.
