Clemson redshirt sophomore Mackensie Alexander believes he is the country’s best cornerback and “it’s not even close.”

It’s hardly news when a player proclaims himself the best, especially when he is as talented as Alexander, but the 5-foot-10, 190-pound cornerback has stiff competition within his own conference before even expanding the search to the rest of the country.

“In my opinion it’s not even close,” Alexander told reporters Wednesday. “I think every guy that talks about Mackensie knows I’m the best corner in college. It’s not even close.”

“… Look at my body of work, the things I’ve put on, the things I’ve done. It’s not even close. My numbers, you look at everybody else’s numbers. I don’t care who they are and what league they play in. if you can play, you can play.”

Last season, Alexander, a former five-star recruit, set a school record for snaps played by a freshman. Opponents targeted him 57 times and completed 20 of those attempts, his official school bio states. He allowed two touchdowns, but broke up six passes.

Last month, the ACC media met at the conference’s media days and voted for the preseason All-ACC team. Florida State’s Jalen Ramsey (115 votes) and Virginia Tech’s Kendall Fuller (112) decisively finished ahead of Alexander (28) in the voting. Ramsey and Fuller (and safeties Jeremy Cash and Quin Blanding) were placed ahead of Alexander in the ACC blog’s ranking of the conference’s best 25 players last week. Florida's Vernon Hargreaves III was voted as the best cornerback (No. 4 overall) in ESPN.com's #CFBrank.

Alexander said Clemson’s defensive players don’t pay attention to individual awards. (We'll assume the label of “country’s best” doesn’t qualify as an award.)

Despite his crowning as the country’s best cornerback, Alexander said he continues to work on his craft.

“Sometimes I feel I do things good but not great,” he said. “… I’m working every day and I’m a hungry man and I’m never going to settle.”