Tigers in ACC lower tier in ESPN ranking for 2024 season, but in upper half nationally

Clemson's offense ranks in the Top 20 nationally in returning production.

by TigerNet Staff - Mon Feb 05 14:42:40 GMT-04:00 2024

Dabo Swinney's Tigers rank in the bottom tier of the conference but in the upper half nationally in returning production for the 2024 campaign.

Clemson places 12th out of 17 ACC teams and 54th nationally in returning production according to ESPN, with 64% back overall. On offense, Clemson is 20th (79%), but on defense, it ranks 103rd (49%).

2024 scheduled opponents occupy the top spots from the ACC and top-five overall with Virginia Tech [No. 1 overall - 86% overall/95% offense (1)/77% defense (12)] and Virginia [5th - 76% overall/85% offense (5)/68% defense (30)].

Of note out of conference, Georgia is No. 47 [65% overall/76% on offense (25)/55% on defense (80)] and South Carolina is No. 59 [63% overall/52% on offense (94)/74% on defense (18)].

Three Playoff teams with coaching changes see some of the biggest shifts, with Alabama (115th; 44% overall), Michigan (128th, 36%), and Washington (130th; 36%).

Returning production doesn't necessarily correlate to Playoff-level success, as Alabama ranked 125th in returning production last year, but Michigan (5th; 81%), Texas (19th; 74%) and Washington (22nd; 73%) were all in the Top 22.

Florida State ranked No. 1 last year and went 13-0 before the bowl/playoff season, while a Top 10 team in production with Boston College (8th) went from 3-9 in 2022 to 7-6 in 2023. Clemson ranked 36th in returning production last year (69%; 64% on offense; 75% on defense) and finished No. 20 in the final AP Poll.

"High or low returning production percentages correlate well with improvement and regression. They might not guarantee a good or bad team, but they can still tell us a lot," said ESPN's Bill Connelly.

Returning ACC champ Florida State is 83rd in returning production this season (58% overall/56% on offense/60% on defense).

Top 5 ACC returning production

Virginia Tech: 1st overall - 86% overall/95% offense (1)/77% defense (12)

Virginia: 5th - 76% overall/85% offense (5)/68% defense (30)

Syracuse: 10th - 74% overall/81% offense (9)/67% defense (34)

Cal: 14th - 73% overall/79% offense (17)/66% defense (36)

Wake Forest: 36th - 68% overall/61% offense (70)/74% defense (15)