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Recruiting rankings matter in this regard: They don’t guarantee success, but you need to be recruiting well to be in the championship conversation.

So it’s interesting to view this Clemson recruiting class within the context of team rankings.

The Tigers head toward the late signing period ranked No. 5 in the Rivals.com rankings – one spot shy of the their highest-finish in network history.

That’s saying something in light of Clemson’s recent run. Yet most folks probably would have guessed that the class with Deshaun Watson (2014) or with six five-stars, including Trevor Lawrence and Xavier Thomas (2018), would be the one sitting at the top.