Clemson Football: Early 2018 Schedule Analysis, Review
The 2018 Clemson football schedule was released on Wednesday. Here’s our way too early thoughts and analysis for how it shapes up.
We will be spending, in some shape or form, the next seven and a half months analyzing the 2018 Clemson football schedule.
The Tigers bring back 10 players on the defensive side of the ball with starting experience. That includes Clelin Ferrell, Christian Wilkins, and Austin Bryant who all elected to stay for the 2018 campaign and forego the NFL draft.
There’s great reason for optimism for the upcoming season among Tiger fans and it’s clearly understood why. First, let’s take a look at the 2018 schedule.
2018 Clemson Football Schedule:
- Sept. 1: vs. Furman
- Sept. 8: @ Texas A&M
- Sept. 15: vs. Georgia Southern
- Sept. 22: @ Georgia Tech
- Sept. 29: vs. Syracuse
- Oct. 6: @ Wake Forest
- Oct. 13: BYE
- Oct. 20: vs. NC State
- Oct. 27: @ Florida State
- Nov. 3: vs. Louisville
- Nov. 10: @ Boston College
- Nov. 17: vs. Duke
- Nov. 24: vs. South Carolina
Upon Further Review:
Do you know the first thing I notice about this schedule? Finally, Clemson won’t have to play a Thursday or Friday night game.
The Tigers, I guess, have finally moved to a big enough brand name that they don’t have to try and fill a Thursday night time slot, or especially a Friday night time slot.
The second thing I notice is the fact that Clemson football should be favored in every single game this year.
Texas A&M isn’t really the Texas A&M team of old, despite the fact that it’s on the road.
On this schedule right now, I see the possibility of four ranked teams. Texas A&M will start out ranked. Florida State will most likely be a top-15 team when the two teams match up in late October.
Boston College, in my opinion, has a chance to break the top-25. And, as much as it pains me to say it, South Carolina will, in all likelihood, start out in the preseason top-25. Due to their weak schedule, I could see the Gamecocks being ranked when the two programs play at the end of the season.
Next: Young players will benefit most from returning veterans
It’s certainly a doable schedule and I really like where they bye week fell, exactly midway through the season. The Tigers have a lot of work to do here in the rest of winter, spring, and summer before fall rolls back around, but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the team return to Death Valley on September 1st to take on Furman.
I’m sure we will break down this schedule forwards and backwards by then, but it will be a lot of fun nevertheless.