Clemson football sits unranked in the AP preseason picture, but a national analyst says the Tigers can still push into the College Football Playoff conversation

Clemson’s road to the College Football Playoff may start with a handicap that is easy to see and hard to shake. The Tigers are expected to begin the season outside the AP Top 25, a starting point that typically indicates respect rather than certainty. Still, Nicolas Rome believes Clemson has enough to “sneak” into the playoff field once the calendar turns, betting on late-season momentum rather than preseason positioning.

Rome’s central point is not that Clemson should be treated like a lock, but that the postseason picture can shift quickly, especially for programs that can string together wins and build credibility as opponents’ bodies of work grow. College football’s selection landscape rewards teams that look like legitimate contenders when October and November end, even if they are not decorated by voters before the first kickoff.

The AP preseason ranking matters mainly as a public barometer. It does not decide the playoff, and it can be misleading in either direction. A team can look underappreciated early because of questions at quarterback, new defensive looks, or simply voter caution around returning production. Conversely, teams that appear secure in preseason rankings can stumble before the postseason conversation is formed. Clemson’s case, as Rome frames it, hinges on whether the Tigers can earn that postseason respect quickly enough.

Clemson is not unique in starting outside the Top 25, but programs in that situation face a clearer mandate. To reach the College Football Playoff, a team usually needs an impressive season arc, often with several signature victories that demonstrate it can win against strong competition. That generally includes handling the weekly baseline tests and then showing, when the schedule tightens, that Clemson can control the kinds of games that move selection discussions.

Rome’s language suggests a certain belief in “getting hot at the right time.” In the modern playoff era, timing matters because the final set of teams is built from résumés, not vibes. The Tigers would have to convert their opportunities into tangible results, and they would need to avoid the type of early missteps that create an unrecoverable gap in the national picture. In other words, Clemson’s path is plausible, but it is not a passive one.

There is also a broader strategic element behind Rome’s argument. Clemson’s brand of football has historically allowed it to recruit and develop into a weekly threat, and playoff runs have often been built on defense-and-discipline identity as much as any single offensive storyline. When a team can keep games manageable, it creates more chances to win high-leverage moments, which is what tends to define late-season playoff résumés.

As the season approaches, the best way to evaluate Rome’s stance is to watch how quickly Clemson turns early questions into results. The Tigers’ first stretch should reveal whether the team is ready to win the right matchups and whether it can build a résumé that does not rely on favorable circumstance. If Clemson can move from “unranked” to “impossible to ignore,” Rome’s belief will start to look less like hope and more like a forecast.

If Clemson does not make the playoff, the preseason outlook will look vindicated by default. But if the Tigers deliver, Rome’s argument illustrates the central truth of college football’s postseason mechanics: a team does not need to start the year inside the Top 25 to finish in the playoff conversation. It needs to earn its way there, week by week, until the rankings catch up with what the field has already decided on the grass.