Sports Update For Friday, August 2nd, 2019; Clemson Preseason Number One According To USA Today Coaches Poll

(Seneca, SC)—–The Clemson Tigers are the preseason #1 team in the country according to the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll.

It is the first time in the history of Clemson football that the Tigers are the preseason #1 team in the country in one of the major preseason polls.

The rest of the top ten is Alabama at #2, followed by Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, LSU, Michigan, Florida, Notre Dame and Texas rounding out the top 10.

Other notable teams are Texas A & M at #11, Auburn at #16 and Syracuse at #22.  South Carolina received votes in the poll but not enough votes to make the top 25.

Clemson and South Carolina will open their fall camps today.

“I divide the season into stages,” says South Carolina Head Football Coach Will Muschamp. “We started the season back in January, in the offseason program. We’ve moved into spring ball, we had our summer program. Now we’re into training camp. Training camp mode, you’ve got to approach it number one, your mindset, with a positive attitude. It doesn’t guarantee you anything but a negative one does. Our guys understand that. You’ve got to come in every day wanting to get better and eager to improve. Every single day, as far as the things you do, we’ve got to come together as a team right here during training camp. There may be some new faces involved, but gaining the trust of your teammates and the communication and all the things you’ve got to do in order to be successful. Being the best conditioned team as we can when we start the season is also important, because the best conditioned team are the teams that are able to battle through the physical and mental barriers that you have to go to.”

“By all accounts, we had a great summer, based on our players,” according to Coach Muschamp.  “Coach Dillman and his staff have had the best summer since we’ve been here. So again, that goes back to our leadership and the type of players we have in our program.”