CLEMSON — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney was unfazed when the Tigers were picked No. 14 in the preseason AP and US LBM coaches poll to enter the 2024 season.

It is the first time the Tigers haven't started in the top 10 in both polls since 2015.

"Last time we were so-called outside (the top 10) was 2015 — we were 12th and went to the national championship (game)," Swinney said. "Nobody was writing about all them predictions at that point. 2011, I think we were picked third or fourth in our league, and we won the league."

Despite Clemson missing the ACC championship last year and not making the College Football Playoff in the past three seasons, he spoke about his team's success historically. He mentioned how Clemson has won the conference in seven of the past nine years and the three national championships it has achieved.

"We're pretty dang consistent," Swinney said. "If you want to buy stock, you (don't) want to buy one that's hot sometimes then cold as a dead fish. We're pretty steady, pretty consistent (but) not perfect."

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Swinney is hoping his team can rebound from a 9-4 season in 2023, which was its fewest wins since 2010. Clemson faces three opponents this season that are ranked in the preseason coaches top 25 poll, including No. 1 Georgia, No. 10 Florida State and No. 22 NC State, and four teams that received votes: Louisville (95 votes), Virginia Tech (64), South Carolina (10) and Appalachian State (4).

Clemson participated in its second scrimmage Thursday, which was closed to the media. It was the team's final scrimmage before opening its season vs. Georgia on Aug. 31 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

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

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dabo Swinney: Clemson football has delivered when underestimated