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UGA WAY too high

they are the defending champs, by default that'll always put them near the top on these lazy take pre-season lists.

That time of year. My 2022 Lindy’s College Football National Preview arrived yesterday. An SEC West cover featuring LSU/Arkansas. This marks 24 years buying a Lindy’s preview, every year, dating back to 1999.

99 was a very good year

I certainly partied like it.

Clemson at #4 strikes me as far too high a ranking. I have heard their D-line is supposed to be excellent, but they lose both coordinators, after a sub-par year. Dabo and company are going to be tested this year, even though the ACC is a complete joke, in terms of strength. Their strength used to be that nobody left the coaching staff and their football culture - a team in transition.

Clemson at #4 strikes me as far too high a ranking. I have heard their D-line is supposed to be excellent, but they lose both coordinators, after a sub-par year. Dabo and company are going to be tested this year, even though the ACC is a complete joke, in terms of strength. Their strength used to be that nobody left the coaching staff and their football culture - a team in transition.

Seeing how Clemson does this year is one of the biggest things I am looking forward to this season.  What Dabo accomplished there especially from 2015-2020 is nothing short of astounding so the question is, can they bounce back to that after a bit of a down year in 2021 or not?  

Dabo coached part of 2008 as an interim coach going 4-3 including a bowl loss to finish that season.  In his full seasons:

• 2009:  9-5/6-2 W division, L CG, W bowl finished #24
• 2010:  6-7/4-4 L bowl, finished nr
• 2011:  10-4/6-2 W division, W CG, L bowl, finished #22
• 2012:  11-2/7-1 W division, L CG, W bowl, finished #11
• 2013:  11-2/7-1 W bowl, finished #8
• 2014:  10-3/6-2 W bowl, finished #15
• 2015:  14-1/8-0 W division, W CG, W CFP Semi-final, L CFP CG, finished #2
• 2016:  14-1/7-1 W division, W CG, W CFP Semi-final, W CFP CG, finished #1
• 2017:  12-2/7-1 W division, W CG, L CFP Semi-final, finished #4
• 2018:  15-0/8-0 W division, W CG, W CFP Semi-final, W CFP CG, finished #1
• 2019:  14-1/8-0 W division, W CG, W CFP Semi-final, L CFP CG, finished #2
• 2020:  10-2/8-1 W CG berth in divisionless CG, W CG, L CFP Semi-final, finished #3
• 2021:  10-3/6-2 W bowl, finished #14

You referred to 2021 as "a sub-par year."  It was, but only in the context of what Dabo accomplished from about 2012-2020 and especially 2015-2020.  In the six years from 2015-2020 Clemson made the CFP EVERY year and never finished worse than 12-2 and #4.  If you compared 2021 to probably any other six years in Clemson's entire history it would be no worse than "pretty good" and in a lot of six year periods a year like 2021 would have been the highlight!  

The interesting question is whether or not 2015-2020 is Clemson's "new normal".  Was 2021 a down year from that "new normal" or was 2021 a return to closer to Clemson's historical norms?  

Seeing how Clemson does this year is one of the biggest things I am looking forward to this season.  What Dabo accomplished there especially from 2015-2020 is nothing short of astounding so the question is, can they bounce back to that after a bit of a down year in 2021 or not? 

Dabo coached part of 2008 as an interim coach going 4-3 including a bowl loss to finish that season.  In his full seasons:

• 2009:  9-5/6-2 W division, L CG, W bowl finished #24
• 2010:  6-7/4-4 L bowl, finished nr
• 2011:  10-4/6-2 W division, W CG, L bowl, finished #22
• 2012:  11-2/7-1 W division, L CG, W bowl, finished #11
• 2013:  11-2/7-1 W bowl, finished #8
• 2014:  10-3/6-2 W bowl, finished #15
• 2015:  14-1/8-0 W division, W CG, W CFP Semi-final, L CFP CG, finished #2
• 2016:  14-1/7-1 W division, W CG, W CFP Semi-final, W CFP CG, finished #1
• 2017:  12-2/7-1 W division, W CG, L CFP Semi-final, finished #4
• 2018:  15-0/8-0 W division, W CG, W CFP Semi-final, W CFP CG, finished #1
• 2019:  14-1/8-0 W division, W CG, W CFP Semi-final, L CFP CG, finished #2
• 2020:  10-2/8-1 W CG berth in divisionless CG, W CG, L CFP Semi-final, finished #3
• 2021:  10-3/6-2 W bowl, finished #14

You referred to 2021 as "a sub-par year."  It was, but only in the context of what Dabo accomplished from about 2012-2020 and especially 2015-2020.  In the six years from 2015-2020 Clemson made the CFP EVERY year and never finished worse than 12-2 and #4.  If you compared 2021 to probably any other six years in Clemson's entire history it would be no worse than "pretty good" and in a lot of six year periods a year like 2021 would have been the highlight! 

The interesting question is whether or not 2015-2020 is Clemson's "new normal".  Was 2021 a down year from that "new normal" or was 2021 a return to closer to Clemson's historical norms? 

Agree, prior to Clemson’s recent amazing success, I thought of the program, as one of the two greatest underachievers (considering resources, access to talent and fan interest), the other being Georgia (until quite recently) in CFB. Frankly, I have always been suspicious of Clemson’s sudden success out of nowhere, that isn’t the way it normally happens (there is a slow build to excellence). The hardest thing is to go from being a consistently good program, to an elite level. Clemson is elite in the ACC, but not in the B1G or SEC IMO. They dominate a very weak conference, I can’t think of another ACC team that I consider intimidating. I’m not saying they are terrible, or bad - just not #4 (after losing so much from the coaching staff and having a questionable QB situation). New coordinators mean an adjustment period, no matter the team.

99 was a very good year

Year ya got divorced?