Greg McElroy rips Preseason AP Poll for ranking Clemson ‘way too low’

With the release of the Preseason AP Poll on Monday, takes of too high and too low have come out around the country over the past day. Some of those included the No. 4Clemson Tigers who, despite being in the top-five, may still not be rated right for some.

ESPN’s Greg McElroy reacted to the release of the debut of the AP Poll on ‘Always College Football’ yesterday. One of his first takeaways was, based on returning production, two teams to him clearly should’ve been in some order at No. 1 or No. 2 between Penn State, who did come in at No. 2, and Clemson, who came in at No. 4.

“Look, I think, to me right now, it’s very clear who the top-two teams are,” said McElroy. “If we’re going based off of what we know, things that we have questions about, these two teams have the fewest: Clemson and Penn State. They should both be at one or two.”

“The AP put Clemson at four, which is better than the Coaches – got to give them some credit for that. The Coaches had them all the way down at No. 6,” McElroy noted. “But if you look at really Penn State and Clemson, as far as guys that played roles last year and what their role looks like this year? It should be very obvious that they should be no worse than one and two.”

Clemson, currently a favorite in every game on their schedule and the favorite this season out of the ACC, is hovering around the slots for the top-five as these national preseason ratings have been released. The AP Poll had them at No. 4, the Coaches Poll had them at No. 6 last week, and the Tigers have been in the top-five for experts among other outlets around the sport like at No. 4 by On3’s Brett McMurphy and Joel Klatt at FOX Sports. Meanwhile, as of last week, McElroy ranked Clemson at No. 1 in his own Preseason Top-25

With that, having no issue with the Nittany Lions, McElroy noted why he’d take No. 1Texas, who he had at No. 4, and No. 3Ohio State, who he had at No. 8, down spots for Clemson. He understood where things stand with the Longhorns, but while mentioning where the Tigers were in direct comparison to them having met in the playoff last season. Then, with the Buckeyes, he sees just a few too many unknowns right now when it comes to the defending champions.

“I look at Texas? I think Texas – I have them at three. At one, it’s kind of splitting hairs,” said McElroy. “I just feel like Clemson at four feels way too low, especially with what’s back off last year’s team and the fact that on a, quote, ‘a down year’, they went and gave Texas all they wanted in the first round of the College Football Playoff, and won the ACC.”

“Ohio State? I know Ohio State is going to be crazy talented. I really believe that they have tremendous, tremendous personnel. But, if you really look at Ohio State’s roster, there are legitimate question marks coming into this year…There are legitimate question marks around Ohio State,” McElroy continued. “To have them at three, ahead of, say, Clemson at four, to me feels like a bit too much. We’re giving a lot of credit to Ryan Day and Ohio State. By all means, they deserve it – but it just feels like it’s a little bit too high, at least for me.”

Again, when we do get to the top-four to top-five teams, we are eventually splitting hairs based on opinion or preference, especially with there being a lot of the same teams coming up in the top-eight to top-ten. Still, to McElroy, four even feels low to him as far as Clemson coming into this season.

“Clemson? Gosh. They’re sleeping on them. I’m just saying,” said McElroy. “I know it’s four, I know it’s still pretty good but that feels a little bit too low for me.”