Three Power 5 teams that Clemson football has never played but should in the future

Clemson football is now a national brand and should branch out beyond the South.

The rise in prominence for Clemson football has been one that no one saw coming, no one. It has been an amazing ride and one that has provided fans with enough memories to last a lifetime. The good news is that there are still plenty more to be made.

Under head coach Dabo Swinney, the Tigers have not been afraid to play anyone and have no issue scheduling home and home with any Power 5 football program. They even made last-minute changes to the 2021 football schedule in order to play SEC East power UGA in a neutral site game.

In the upcoming years, Clemson football has scheduled home and home games with Notre Dame, LSU, UGA, and Oklahoma. They will play one of those teams every year between 2021 and 2037 and will face each of them at least twice during that 17-year span.

The Tigers have embraced the motto of playing anyone, anytime, and anywhere.

As the Clemson football brand continues to grow, there are three teams that the Tigers have never played in football and should reach out to schedule a home and home at some point in the near future.

As college football fans, media and administrators push to expand the playoffs, you will see more teams play Power 5 non-conference games and fewer games against FCS opponents to ensure that they secure a playoff bid.

With that in mind, here are the three college football programs that Clemson has never faced on the field that we would like to see the Tigers add to their schedule at some point in the future.

Michigan

While there are lots of arguments about who is and who is not a college football blueblood, there is no arguing that the Michigan Wolverines are a college football blueblood.

They are the all-time leader in college football wins with 964, which is 196 more than Clemson football currently owns.

The Wolverines are Top 10 in almost every single college football category imaginable. The Michigan helmet is among the most iconic uniform pieces in all sports – amateur or professional.

While Michigan has had a two and a half-decade run of not being relevant from a title standpoint, they still have one of the largest fan bases in American sports, and getting a chance to go to the “big house” to see Clemson and Michigan play would be a once in a lifetime dream for college football fanatics.

UCLA

This may not seem like a big one for too many people because UCLA has not been prevalent in college football since the late 90s, but they are still one of the most prestigious programs in the sport from a historical context.

If it wasn’t for UCLA coming to the south and destroying teams like Alabama, most southern football programs would have taken even longer to integrate their programs. The Bruins have meant a lot to the historical growth of the game, and we should all be thankful for that.

As the Clemson football brand keeps growing, playing games in different parts of the country is important to continue grabbing the elite guys from non-Southern states.

Sure, being able to sign DJ Uiagalelei and Joseph Ngata in 2020 as well Beaux Collins in the 2021 recruiting class is great and a step in the right direction but California is the most populated state traditionally with the most 5-star talent, and taking the Tigers to them would give many a chance to see Clemson on the field in person, which isn’t a bad thing.

Ask guys like DJ Uiagalelei and Joseph Ngata if they would like to be able to go play just one game in front of their friends and family and what that would mean to them.

Texas

This one is kind of shocking. To think that these two schools have never crossed paths on the field is odd.

When you compare the two programs, there are no similarities and historically Clemson football doesn’t stack up to the Longhorns when it comes to historical football success.

Texas has more wins, more bowl wins, more national titles, more All-Americans, more NFL draft picks, and have spent almost 300 more weeks ranked in the AP poll than Clemson.

While none of that matters to players today, it is astonishing to think about given the success that Clemson has had over the last decade in football, and yet it hasn’t made a dent when you compare it to the bluebloods in the sport.

Any Clemson football fan that was able to make it to either of the Texas A&M games in College Station or to the Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame can attest that the state of Texas is a great place to see a college football game and going to Austin would be no different.

No one has any issue with the way that Clemson football has scheduled under Dabo Swinney, but it would be great to see them kickoff against programs that they have never shared a field with as they continue to grow and dominate the sport.