Clemson football: 3 most likely bowl destinations for Tigers in 2021
The Clemson football team hasn’t had the season that many would’ve hoped for and the Tigers are almost out of the running at this point to make it to a New Year’s Six Bowl.
While there is still a little hope remaining that Clemson can sneak in the ACC Championship game and potentially keep its streak of six-straight conference titles alive, the most likely scenarios involve the Tigers finishing somewhere between 9-3, 8-4 or 7-5 and playing in a bowl outside of the New Year’s Six brands.
If Clemson does get left out of the New Year’s Six bowls, there are eight ‘Tier 1‘ bowls who have an even selection process as to who they’ll host in their game.
Keep in mind that because this is an even selection process, the “best” team isn’t necessarily who is selected to play in the “better bowl games.” Instead, the bowls will take into consideration fanbase size, geography and even “newness” (ie. the team didn’t play in your bowl game last season), which all will favor the Tigers in the process.
Here’s a look at the three most likely bowl destinations for Clemson football.
Three most likely bowl destinations for Clemson football in 2021
1. Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FLA)
The Gator Bowl has been a long-established bowl game that gets a solid pick of ‘the rest’ each season and this one will be no different.
Just like all the other bowl games, the Gator Bowl is going to consider fanbase size and travel. That means the Tigers– with potentially the largest fanbase in the conference– will be one of the first teams they consider.
Right now, you’d have to think that Miami and potentially a team like Wake Forest or NC State, if they were to fall, would be the only real competition to Clemson locking up a bid here.
The Gator Bowl is hosted in Jacksonville and the game is slated to take place on Friday, Dec. 31st at 11 a.m. against an SEC team. If the Tigers were to be selected for this one, they could be looking at an opponent like Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss or Tennessee.