Clemson’s loaded non-conference slate faces massive cuts in move to 9 ACC games

The Atlantic Coast Conference is officially transitioning to a nine game conference format that would fit its 17-team size, but the fans of Clemson aren’t going to be feeling the full weight of that shift for a few years.

Clemson is one of five schools — Florida State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Boston College are others to follow — that will hold on to an eight game ACC schedule to the 2028 season, according to a report from On3’s Brett McMurphy.

Though the delay provides short-term stability, it also lays the groundwork for a huge logistical headache in 2029. When the ninth conference game hits the books in 2029, it will be legally impossible for Clemson to maintain its non-conference schedule as it stands.

The new 17-team league will limit teams to only three non-conference openings. Clemson’s current 2029 schedule now includes five FBS/FCS opponents: East Carolina, Georgia, Furman, Notre Dame, and the annual rivalry finale at South Carolina. To remain compliant, the Tigers will have to gut this lineup.

Aside from cutting the South Carolina rivalry or the headline-grabbing Notre Dame agreement, marquee matchups like the Georgia return game or the regional game featuring East Carolina are likely on the chopping block. The schedule change stems from the ACC’s effort to work its way back to credibility following a rather unorthodox 2024 season. In the first year of the 17-team era, the league’s tiebreaker system was criticized widely after Miami—the conference’s lead CFP team—was omitted from the championship contest in Charlotte. That enabled a 7-5 Duke team to reenter the championship game and, eventually, the trophy.

The conference is expected to adopt new tiebreaker criteria in the spring so that the “two best teams” can even meet on the field. Clemson won nine ACC titles between 2011 and 2024, but the clarity can’t come soon enough when the road to Charlotte gets so crowded. The nine-game era is a few years from now — the eight games Clemson will play in 2026 are brutal.

The Tigers will be confronted with a gauntlet that includes a home date with Miami (Oct. 3)--on the heels of a national title game--and a road trip to Durham on Nov. 21 in order to face current league champion, the Duke Blue Devils. Clemson will further arrive on Sept. 25 to challenge a rising Cal program and host Georgia Tech on Nov. 14.

With spring practices slated to start as far back as later this month, Dabo Swinney’s staff is working since back from their seven-seasons of struggle and back in the top spot a rapidly changing ACC.