Pollsters put asterisks by Clemson’s high preseason ranking

By Marc Hudgens  |   Monday, June 02, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

Clemson Tigers
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As their various places in preseason Top 25 polls show, the Clemson Tigers have been getting plenty of love from various and sundry national media pundits.

To name a few, Clemson is ESPN's No. 7, SportingNews' No. 9, Rivals' No. 8, and Athlon has coach Tommy Bowden’s bunch ranked 10th. The main reason for their picks is that the Tigers return a ton of starters from last season.

However, what’s strange is that just about every site is making its predictions with serious reservations. That begs the question: Why rank the Tigers that high if you’re not convinced they belong there?

Before mentioning the lack of experienced offensive linemen and linebackers, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach wrote, “The Tigers appear to be the best team in the ACC, but how many times have we heard that during coach Tommy Bowden's tenure?”

“Yeah, Tommy Bowden finally may get his day in the sun," wrote Rivals' Tom Dienhart.

Mike Huguenin, Dienhart's Rivals colleague, also isn't totally convinced.

“Still, there's the nagging feeling the Tigers again will come up short in at least one game they're supposed to win,” Huguenin wrote.

Few can argue that Clemson hasn't had its share of bad luck the past three or four seasons. It’s beyond clear the team has chronically stumbled just before stepping into a new era and has blown its chances in the process. But for pollsters to give the Tigers a top-10 preseason ranking while bemoaning huge concerns at the same time makes little sense. If they’re regretting it this much, just give Clemson a ranking of, say, 15th in a revised poll and move on.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He...
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