After dominating the conference for a decade, the Clemon Tigers now trail Miami, SMU, and Louisville. Josh Pate breaks down why Dabo Swinney faces an uphill climb.
From 2011 to 2024, Clemson ran the ACC, winning nine conference championships.
The Tigers have not won a national championship since 2018, but continued their success in conference play, winning in 2020, 2022 and 2024.
Clemson fell off the map in 2025, finishing with a 7-6 record despite having a roster that put nine players in the NFL draft within the first five rounds.
Can the Tigers rebound like they did in 2022 and 2024?
On the "Josh Pate's College Football Show" on Sunday, the host argued things have changed in the conference for Clemson. Miami has taken over the show in the ACC, and they should be expected to win the conference title.
"Miami has now taken the place of Clemson," Pate said. "So you look at Miami and you think that's a bona fide national championship threat every single year. At least that's the current status of Miami.
"But now Clemson's fallen off a little bit. And so you just never have this period where you look at the ACC at the beginning of the year and say there are multiple teams in that league that could win it all this year. You just don't feel that way.”
Pate thinks it would be a "bold prediction" for the Tigers to win the ACC this year. He's not just worried about Miami, arguing Clemson is now behind SMU and Louisville this offseason.
"Clemson has won eight of the last 11 ACC titles and it is a bold prediction now to predict Clemson to win the ACC... They have the fourth best odds to win the conference," he said.
"Behind Louisville, SMU, and Miami, it should be noted Clemson is well behind SMU and Louisville, who themselves are well behind Miami."
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has earned the benefit of the doubt at getting his teams to outperform. No one thought the Tigers would make a comeback at the end of the 2024 season and knock off SMU.
The Tigers did, but that SMU team is much different than Miami, which is built to not only win the ACC but challenge for the national championship.
Clemson has big questions at quarterback and on the offense. It could be a tough season this fall, and Swinney will have to figure out how to get his program back to the top during the next offseason.
