ACC 2023 schedule provides decent challenge for Clemson Football

Clemson Football learned their 2023 ACC schedule last night.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced the 2023 conference schedules for the member institutions today. This is the first season of the new 3-5-5 scheduling model, which sets three annual opponents with the other ten rotating on the schedule twice every four seasons.

The programs knew who they would be playing and where, but they did not know the dates until today.

Clemson will open the 2023 season on the road against the Duke Blue Devils on Labor Day Monday. It has become something of a tradition in the past few years to feature Clemson on Labor Day Monday. Like last year, this opening game will not be in Death Valley.

Following two non-conference matchups against Charleston Southern and Florida Atlantic, the Tigers will open their home ACC schedule against Florida State on September 23rd. This game is expected to be crucial for the ACC championship race in 2023.

Next Clemson will be on the road against Syracuse and then host Wake Forest before they take their bye the weekend of October 14th.

Coming out of the bye, the Tigers will travel to Miami and NC State on consecutive weekends. This will be followed by their anticipated matchup against Notre Dame in Death Valley.

Clemson wraps up the schedule by hosting Georgia Tech and North Carolina before traveling to Columbia to play the Gamecocks.

Overall, this schedule does not have the traditional ‘gauntlet’ that the Tigers often face at some point in the season. The closest thing is the two road games in Miami and Raleigh, followed by the home game against the Irish. The Hurricanes weren’t intimidating in 2022, but they are in a classic trap game position on Clemson’s schedule. If the Tigers are looking ahead to NC State (where they lost last time they played in Carter-Finley Stadium) and Notre Dame, they could be caught napping by the Canes.

The other challenge on this schedule is the Seminoles, widely expected to be one of the better squads in the ACC. This game comes a little earlier on the schedule than usual, and that likely is due to the new format for the ACC Championship Game.

The top two teams in the conference will play in Charlotte for the championship. Considering that many would pick the Tigers to play FSU in that game, the conference likely wished to put some distance between the regular season matchup and the potential repeat at the end of the season.

Clemson Football drew a good schedule from the ACC that will provide challenges

After the opening game, all games for the balance of the season will be on a Saturday, which seems to be the preference of most Tiger fans. There was some speculation that the road game at Syracuse could once again end up on a Friday night, which has created some drama for Clemson in the past.

If you are looking for a dark horse on Clemson’s schedule, keep an eye on the Yellow Jackets visiting Death Valley on November 11th. This is the game after the Irish come to town, and depending on the intensity of that matchup, the next weekend against Tech could be a hangover spot for the Tigers.

This schedule should provide a good challenge for the Tigers as they look to defend their 2022 ACC Championship.