Paul Finebaum says Florida State has 'distanced itself' from Clemson

If you know Paul Finebaum as a football personality, you know he has a lot about Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program.

Finebaum recently appeared on ESPN's McElroy and Cubelic in the morning and discussed how he thinks Florida State has overtaken Clemson as an attractive option in the ACC. This is no surprise; Finebaum is a true Clemson hater, whether he admits it or not.

“I think they're already less attractive, Greg,” Finebaum said. Clemson, if you think back to 2016, 2017 and 2018 – they were at the epicenter. We all joked about how boring it is that Alabama and Clemson play each other every year. Nobody says that anymore. They weren't that big of a name until then. Clemson was always a good football school, but it was never a major attraction like Alabama or Georgia or Texas or Michigan or Ohio State. Now they've fallen away from that.”

It goes beyond Florida Finebaum, on the other hand, sees several ACC teams on the rise, while the Tigers fall behind. Clemson is becoming less attractive to the analyst every year.

“We know Florida State has passed them. There are other schools that could do it. Miami is one that you just have to wonder. If they do it right under Mario Cristobal, that's another school that could overtake them,” Finebaum said. “And when you start splitting up the schools, we've already had discussions and conversations about who is the most attractive in the ACC. North Carolina is more attractive than them. Florida State would be, but that just depends on if you have the stomach for what they've done the last two years. Clemson has a toe in the water there too, so that immediately makes them less attractive.”

The 2024 season is a prime opportunity for the Tigers to prove Finebaum wrong, as they have done MANY times before..

The story originally appeared on Clemson Wire