GLENDALE, AZ - JANUARY 11: Richard Yeargin #49 of the Clemson Tigers reacts after being defeated by the Alabama Crimson Tide 45-40 in the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 11, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Athlon Sports thinks these two teams will upset Clemson, and that's laughable

Seriously? These guys?

Clemson is considered one of the top teams heading into the 2016 season and could very well run the regular season table like it did last year. The Tigers face only a couple of stiff challenges this year and have a fairly favorable schedule for the most part. They have to go down to Georgia Tech on a short week —- they play on a Thursday —- which makes it tough to prepare for the triple option, but they've seen it enough over the years to know how to defend it.

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The Tigers also face FSU in Tallahassee, but get the bye week before that to rest up and prepare for the game. They get Louisville, South Carolina, Pittsburgh and Syracuse at home so there really shouldn't be any losses before the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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However, Athlon Sports thinks there are two teams who could pull an upset of the Tigers this year with the first coming in Week 1 against Auburn. Those Tigers don't even have a quarterback right now and dismissed a key player in running back Jovon Robinson before the season has even started. Athlon thinks that a desperate Auburn team with Gus Malzahn potentially coaching for his job is a scary team to face on top of the fact that the game is in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

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Athlon then ranks the Georgia Tech-Clemson game as potentially the biggest upset of the season. It's the first ACC game of the season for Clemson and it comes on a short week. That gives this defense less time to prepare for the triple option that is always difficult to defend, but Georgia Tech still doesn't quite have the talent to match up with Clemson so the Tigers should still blow these guys out of the water.

 

[h/t Athlon Sports]