Clemson Football: Change to 2023 schedule adds intrigue

It appears that Clemson football has changed its 2023 football schedule, leaving an open spot for a second consecutive ACC conference game in the opener.

While the Tigers know their ACC opponents they don’t yet know the dates of those games are not yet known.

The non-conference portion of the schedule was set, with Clemson opening the season by hosting Wofford on September 2nd in Death Valley.

The schedule is now showing Charleston Southern traveling to Clemson on September 9 in what would be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

When it works out on the calendar, college football typically starts the weekend before Labor Day, which for 2023 would be Saturday, September 2, with the requisite first games coming on Thursday, August 31st and Friday, September 1.

With Clemson’s other non-conference games scheduled for September 16 (Florida Atlantic), Notre Dame (November 4) and at South Carolina (November 25), that means the Tigers will play an ACC game in their opener in 2023.

Clemson is scheduled to host Florida State, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and North Carolina, and travel to Duke, N.C. State, Syracuse and Miami.

A schedule change for Clemson football leads to speculation of a conference game in 2023 opener

Though I guess another opener with Georgia Tech could be sold with a new coach in place, that’s not very appealing to me, as the Jackets will still be rebuilding for the foreseeable future.

Wake Forest will lose Sam Hartman, but that would be a better option than the Jackets or Duke (though the Blue Devils had a solid 2022), but for me, the obvious answer would be North Carolina, North Carolina State or Miami, as the best optical fit.

This could be a me thing, but I feel like the Florida State game should be mid-October or later, giving those teams time to build a record and rankings vs. having a one of those teams with a loss right off the bat.

My guess is if Clemson is given a choice they’ll go with a middle of the road option – someone that will put up somewhat of a challenge, but not threaten the Tigers too much.

In recent years the ACC has released the full schedule around the middle of January, if there are no unforeseen complications.