Fumblerooski, fumblerooski! The Clemson Tigers used to be giants of the college football world. Now, they are the equivalent of Danny O'Shea's Little Giants. While Dabo Swinney will surely use "That one time!" speech to rally the troops heading into battle at Florida State, get ready to run The Annexation of Puerto Rico in the TransPerfect San Juan Bowl, as Clemson has been projected to play in the bowl.
Here is a list of the latest bowl game projections for Clemson by a few other notable publications.
- On3: San Juan Bowl vs. Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
- ESPN: San Juan Bowl vs. Georgia State Panthers (Kyle Bonagura); Old El Paso Sun Bowl vs. Oregon State Beavers (Mark Schlabach)
- Sports Illustrated: Holiday Bowl vs. USC Trojans
- CBS: Sun Bowl vs. Washington Huskies
- Athlon: Sun Bowl vs. Arizona Wildcats
If Clemson were to go to the San Juan Bowl, as On3 and ESPN's Kyle Bonagura forecast, the Tigers would be taking on teams they would get ridiculed for scheduling in the non-conference: Georgia State and Louisiana. While bowl games provide opportunities to play teams that rarely -- or never -- face each other, this just goes to show how quickly everything is falling apart under Swinney of late.
ESPN’s latest bowl projection has Clemson in Puerto Rico for the San Juan Bowl, a new bowl game for 2026.
— Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) October 26, 2026
The Tigers would face Georgia State. pic.twitter.com/3bELavVZRb
San Juan Bowl is not the postseason celebration Clemson was hoping for
As is the case with any bowl game matchup, it is not up to the two teams who play each other. They get selected to play in these games. If they accept, then "Party on, Garth!" If not, you can always take your bowl of Pop-Tarts and go home as the delightful Notre Dame Fighting Irish did. Why is it always about them? Regardless, Clemson should aspire to something greater than heading to Puerto Rico.
With many of these bowl projections, Clemson is slated to face Group of Six competition, as well as West Coast teams that either have (Washington) or could be (Arizona or USC) hitting the skid soon. Frankly, last year's massive pullback of a campaign should have been a gross outlier for Clemson, not a sign of what is to come. Bowl games should be celebrated, but there is always one ungrateful party.
While it may be cool to venture out of the Southeast to see what other parts of the country have to offer, Clemson would much rather be playing in Charlotte before bowl games even get here. Too bad the inert Chad Morris offense could only muster 16 points at home in a gotta-have-it game with Virginia Tech. Maybe this is the type of bowl game this Clemson team deserves to go to in the end?
Right now, we are looking at a team that must beat Syracuse on the road before hosting rival Georgia Tech to have a realistic shot at getting to 6-6. Road games at Florida State and Duke will not be easy. Neither will be hosting arch rival South Carolina in the Palmetto Bowl. After going 7-6 a year ago with a Pinstripe Bowl loss to a dead-to-rights Penn State team, nothing has changed at all for the Tigers.
The good news for Clemson players and coaches is they will not need a passport to go to San Juan!
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