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Clemson football vs LSU will be top-10 matchup after preseason coaches poll reveals Top 25
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- Clemson football vs LSU will be top-10 matchup after preseason coaches poll reveals Top 25
CLEMSON — Clemson football against LSU will be a primetime top-10 matchup.
The US LBM Coaches Poll was released Aug. 4 with Clemson ranked at No. 6 and LSU at No. 9.
Clemson will host LSU on Aug. 30 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) at Memorial Stadium. It will be a rematch of the 2020 national championship game, which LSU won 42-25.
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It's a matchup between teams that have prominent coaches, Dabo Swinney and Brian Kelly, and quarterbacks who could be first-round selections in the 2026 NFL Draft: Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier .
Clemson received 1,324 overall votes and two first-place votes to be the highest-ranked ACC team. LSU earned 1,056 points and no first-place votes to be the fourth-highest SEC team.
Clemson, which was picked to win the ACC in the preseason conference media and the USA TODAY Sports Network polls , will face another top-10 team to start the season after facing Georgia last season. This will be LSU's third-straight year starting the season against a ranked opponent after playing Southern California (No. 23) in 2024 and FSU (No. 8) in 2023.
Both are looking to earn a Week 1 win for the first time in several years. Clemson has not won a season-opening game since 2022; LSU has not won one since 2019.
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Clemson's preseason ranking is its highest since 2022 when the Tigers were No. 4. Clemson's preseason ranking is also an eight-spot increase from the Tigers' No. 14 placement in 2024. They finished with a 9-4 record in 2023 for their fewest wins since 2010.
Clemson won 10 games last season to win the ACC and return to the College Football Playoff to finish tied for No. 11 with SMU in the final coaches poll.
Two other ACC schools made this year's Top 25: Miami (No. 10) and SMU (No. 16). ACC teams that did not make the preseason Top 25 but received votes were Louisville (28th on poll), Georgia Tech (37th), Syracuse (40th), Duke (44th) and FSU (48th).
MORE: Dabo Swinney's scouting report after Clemson football tight end Ian Schieffelin first practice
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Texas is the No. 1 team in the poll, earning 1,606 points and 28 first-place votes. Ohio State , the reigning national champion, is No. 2 with 20 first-place votes. No. 3 Penn State (14) and No. 4 Georgia (3) also received first-place votes.
The weekly poll is voted on by a panel of coaches chosen by random draw. Voters submit a Top 25 with a first-place vote worth 25 points, second place worth 24, and so on down to one point for 25th, according to USA TODAY Sports.
2025 US LBM Preseason College Football Coaches Poll
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Texas (1,606)
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Ohio State (1,565)
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Penn State (1,525)
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Georgia (1,466)
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Notre Dame (1,360)
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Clemson (1,324)
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Oregon (1,307)
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Alabama (1,210)
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LSU (1,056)
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Miami (823)
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Arizona State (806)
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Illinois (734)
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South Carolina (665)
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Michigan (580)
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Ole Miss (573)
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SMU (555)
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Florida (498)
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Tennessee (492)
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Indiana (460)
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Kansas State (438)
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Texas A&M (392)
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Iowa State (392)
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BYU (287)
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Texas Tech (261)
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Boise State (246)
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
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This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Where Clemson football, LSU are ranked in Top 25 preseason coaches poll
