clemson: College football analyst predicts Clemson to lift ACC title next season

College football insider Josh Pate believes the Clemson Tigers will have a strong 2025 college football season and earn the ACC title. The reasoning is not related to anything head coach Dabo Swinney is planning on doing for next season, but on the way draft analysts see Clemson's squad.

On Sunday, Pate explained his reasoning and why the Tigers might not only win their conference but also take home the national title. He is taking the team with the most first-rounders predicted on average in the early mock drafts.

"According to the mock draft community, Clemson (will win the national title), we aggregated all of them. Jordan Reed at ESPN, a late addition... Clemson, 3.2 on average first-rounders for the upcoming NFL Draft. So this is it, guys. This is it. I assume they are going to win the ACC. They've got pretty good odds, they are the favorite to win the ACC," Josh Pate said (3:47).

To Josh Pate's point, five of the last six national champions have also had the most first-round picks in the following season's NFL draft. Only the Michigan Wolverines in 2024 didn't rank at the top of first-round picks after winning the national title.

As the insider mentioned - per mock drafts - the Tigers have an average of 3.2 players expected to be selected in the first round. They are followed by the Texas Longhorns (2.6) and Penn State Nittany Lions (2.4).

Pate's 2024 mock draft formula had Michigan with the most first-round picks, followed by the eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes, so the formula isn't exactly proven.

Dabo Swinney's Clemson squad adds PF

Dabo Swinney uncharacteristically added some players through the transfer portal this year. But on Friday, he added a player from the Clemson Tigers's basketball team in power forward Ian Schieffelin. The 6-foot-8, 240-pound player is listed as a tight end.

Schieffelin - who played basketball for four years with the Tigers averaging 12.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 2024 - entered the transfer portal, seeking a chance to play a fifth season somewhere else, but eventually decided to return to Clemson and join the football squad.

The former basketball player doesn't expect to be given much NIL consideration this year, but he hopes to develop and maybe find a spot in the NFL next year.

Many NFL players played basketball collegiately, including Indianapolis Colts tight end Mo Alie-Cox and former San Diego Chargers standout Antonio Gates. Schieffelin says he spoke to Alie-Cox before making a decision.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

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Edited by William Paul