Clemson football has written most of its storied history in the 21st century — mainly since the dawn of the College Football Playoff — but has been around since the late-1800s as an institution in the Palmetto State.
Having been coached by John Heisman at the start of the 20th century and ultimately seeing modern NFL greats like Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson become some of the biggest household names after helping the Tigers win titles, there’s been many essential memories of the sport made while facing some of college football’s ultimate pillar programs like Alabama, Notre Dame, and Ohio State in Death Valley and abroad.
Even with all of the history, quite a few teams at the Power Five and Group of Five levels have never had the chance to take on the scarred paw.
Believe it or not, Clemson football has never played these FBS teams
Clemson football vs Conference USA
The Conference USA is a mostly southern-based conference that sits at the bottom of the Division I totem pole, so why the first fact would make one think Clemson has much history with the conference, the latter fact has kept most of the current C-USA off the schedule. FIU, Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, and WKU have all never gotten to tussle with the Tigers.
Clemson owns a perfect 7-0 record against the Conference USA teams they have played: Louisiana Tech (4-0), Middle Tennessee State (2-0), and UTEP (1-0). The conference is geographically close to Clemson, so if/when the ACC ceases and the Tigers join the SEC, C-USA could hit the jackpot and get paid to play the paw.
Clemson football vs Independents
Believe it or not *insert pointing Leonardo DiCaprio meme*, there is only one current college football independent that Clemson has not played yet: UMass. Once a proud program, the Minutemen have become a punching bag for both Power Five and Group of Five teams.
Clemson beat up on UCONN in 2021 in their lone meeting, while the opposite was true when the Tigers ran into Army all the way back in 1937 when the Black Knights were one of college football’s pillar programs.
The other independent, Notre Dame, just took the all-time series lead, 4-3, after a three-touchdown victory over the Tigers in South Bend on November 5. The previous two meetings between the schools took place during the COVID-19-stricken 2020 season that saw Notre Dame join the ACC temporarily. Clemson got the last laugh in the title game after the Fighting Irish won the regular season matchup.
Clemson football vs MAC
The Mid-Atlantic Conference, like Conference USA, has three teams that have played Clemson: Ball State, Central Michigan, and Kent State. All three stood up to the plate and were subsequently put down, with Ball State having three Clemson losses on their resume.
Due to its location across the rust belt, the MAC isn’t exactly the most logical Group of Five conference to be scheduling games against. That has kept the likes of Akron, Buffalo, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, and Western Michigan off the docket for the Tigers throughout their 1,300-game existence.
When any of these teams would get a trip to Death Valley scheduled is anyone’s guess, though the expanded College Football Playoff in 2024 theoretically opens the door for any Group of Five champions with good enough strength of schedules to face Clemson in the first round. Just don’t expect to see the Tigers in any mid-week MACtion anytime soon.
Clemson football vs Mountain West
There’s been a single contest between Clemson and the current iteration of the Mountain West for over 125 years of college football: a 1993 meeting with the UNLV Rebels — and it wasn’t even a trip to Las Vegas for the Tigers.
Given that the Mountain West is predominantly situated in the Mountain time zone and on the west coast, it’s not the biggest shocker to see such a dearth of recorded history between Clemson and the G5 conference. Still, not having played Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State and Wyoming means there are plenty of intriguing cross-country matchups for the NCAA schedule-makers to explore.
Will they? The odds are high that the ACC one day ceases and the Tigers become the fourth of their striped feline species to join the SEC, and Mountain West teams have appeared on SEC schedules in recent years.
Still, it’s been a long time for there not to have been a game by now between all of the aforementioned teams and Clemson and there hasn’t been, so it’s unclear how that door to the west would open.
Clemson football vs Sun Belt
Due to its proximity, the Sun Belt and Clemson know each other quite well — with half the conference having gotten a matchup against the Tigers and even some teams, like Marshall, picking up a victory. Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana–Monroe, and Troy have also played the paw.
As for the half of the Sun Belt that hasn’t yet faced Clemson, newcomers James Madison and Old Dominion, Arkansas State, Louisiana, South Alabama, Southern Miss, and Texas State are all without a trip to Death Valley on their records.
The Sun Belt feels like a conference that could find a few of its members on Clemson’s September slate in the future, or, if the Tigers end up in the SEC, a late-November game. A 12-team College Football Playoff appearance from the SBC is far from impossible as well.
Depending on how things shake out with the sport, mainly when it comes to immediate eligibility in the transfer portal, the Sun Belt could be a conference that brings in high-end talent throughout the South who want a featured role somewhere that’s close to home.
Clemson football vs AAC
“The American” has always sat right below the Power Five level, having former national champions in its ranks and sending three programs to the Big 12 starting in 2023 (UCF, Cincinnati, Houston). Much of the conference has a history with Clemson, but many of its new members do not.
UAB, East Carolina, Memphis, SMU, UTSA, and Tulsa are the AAC teams that have yet to meet the Tigers on the gridiron.
As for the half of The American that has played Clemson, USF owns the most shocking victory — although to modern fans of the game, it may be surprising to hear that the Tigers own a razor-thin 4-3 winning margin in their series with Rice.
The AAC will be on Clemson’s 2023 football schedule with Florida Atlantic taking the trip up to Death Valley from Boca Raton in Week 3. It would not be shocking to see a program like UTSA or Tulane in an extended College Football Playoff in 2024, so perhaps more history between “the American” and Clemson will be written soon.
Clemson football vs Power Five conferences
All things told, Clemson has not gotten a chance to do battle with a large number of Power Five schools across the country thus far, mainly focusing on the southeast region of the United States and largely ignoring the west coast altogether.
Hell, even the southeast isn’t fully covered. Arkansas has never been opposite the Tigers in a game, and incoming SEC school Texas somehow hasn’t either.
New Big 12 schools Cincinnati, Houston, and BYU have yet to be in that position as well.
The Big Ten has more schools that haven’t faced Clemson than have, with games against Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers, and Wisconsin all being foreign concepts to Tiger fans.
Ditto for the Pac-12 with Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah, Washington, and Washington State.
Many of these matchups could be in Clemson’s future with the expanded Playoff and have a much better chance of becoming a reality than the previously listed Group of Five conferences.
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