Monday, the ACC finally released its full schedule for 2025 giving Clemson fans a look at what is in store this fall. Of course, there will be plenty of anticipation among Tiger fans given that head coach Dabo Swinney should have a top-10 team to begin the season.
We already knew who Clemson was going to play in 2025. Once again, the Tigers will host seven games and play five on the road as has been the custom for the program in recent years. Below is a look at how the games fall now that we have a completed schedule.
Date | Opponent |
|---|---|
August 30, 2025 | vs. LSU |
September 6, 2025 | vs. Troy |
September 13, 2025 | @ Georgia Tech |
September 20, 2025 | vs. Syracuse |
October 4, 2025 | @ North Carolina |
October 11, 2025 | @ Boston College |
October 18, 2025 | vs. SMU |
November 1, 2025 | vs. Duke |
November 8, 2025 | vs. Florida State |
November 14, 2025 (Friday) | @ Louisville |
November 21, 2025 | vs. Furman |
November 28, 2025 | @ South Carolina |
Here are some interesting takeaways from the 2025 schedule.
Most of Clemson's toughest games are at home
Besides the massive talent that is returning to the Tigers this fall, one reason many are high on Clemson's chances of a College Football Playoff run is that most of the toughest tests will be played in Death Valley. Though we already knew who the home and away opponents would be prior to Monday, seeing the games laid out in a schedule reinforces that notion.
This coming season, Clemson plays six programs that won nine games in 2024. Four of those games (LSU, Syracuse, Duke, and SMU) will be played at home while the other two (Louisville and South Carolina) will be road games.
Though not every program is going to repeat or improve upon its win total from the year prior, it is fair to believe that those six games are the toughest on the schedule, at least on paper. So it is great to have the majority of them take place in Clemson.
Clemson won't have to leave home for a month
One oddity of this schedule is that the Tigers won't have to leave home from October 12, the day after they play at Georgia Tech until November 13, the day prior to playing at Louisville. That's an incredible luxury in the middle of the season.
During that time, Clemson has home games with SMU, Duke, and Florida State. The Tigers will also enjoy an open week after playing the Mustangs.
In an era when conferences stretch from coast to coast, Clemson won't have to make any lengthy trips and won't even have to head out on the road for a full month. That could be a huge boost for the Tigers as they head into the final month of the regular season.
Two tough road tests await Clemson in November
On the other side of the equation, the Tigers will have arguably their two toughest road games in the final three weeks of the season. In game 10, Clemson travels to Louisville, a program that came into Death Valley and thumped the Tigers in 2024. Then, after hosting lowly Furman, Clemson plays in-state rival South Carolina in Columbia to wrap up the regular season.
This stretch does come right after Clemson's month-long stint at home. However, playing two tough road games at the end of the season is not ideal given that, even in the era of the College Football Playoff, losses late in the season seem to have a greater impact on a team's perception and postseason outlook than losses earlier on.
Three of Clemson's first four conference games are on the road
Finally, if you are going to enjoy a month at home, you are going to have to pay the piper somewhere else. For Clemson in 2025, that is going to happen in the first four games of ACC play.
That's when the Tigers will have three road games. Fortunately, none of them are considered daunting.
Opening ACC play at Georgia Tech could be a challenge. After all, the Yellowjackets beat No. 4 Miami in Atlanta this past season while almost knocking off rival Georgia in Athens a few weeks later in the regular-season finale.
Then, Clemson hosts Syracuse, which is 0-5 all-time in Death Valley. After that comes a trip to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina, a team that no one knows what to expect from given the hiring of legendary head coach Bill Belichick. Finally, that stretch ends with a road contest at Boston College, a game that the Tigers should expect to win.
Ultimately, it is great to finally have a full Clemson football schedule. Now that it is in place, fans can start to make plans for the fall and dream about how the Tigers will navigate their path to another playoff appearance.