Not only did the national media drop Clemson from its “Way-Too-Early” Top 25, but the path to the Atlantic Coast Conference crown takes an unceremonious path through the Upstate.
Even with a disappointing 7-6 run in 2025 that has left the Tigers off the inside looking in at the preseason standings, Dabo Swinney’s team has become the conference’s last standing “kingmaker,” if you will.
In a recent forecast of the 2026 contest that is set to be the most important, CBS Sports circled Miami’s trip to Memorial Stadium on Oct. 3 as the game that will change the course of the Hurricanes’ season. The stakes for Miami couldn’t be higher.
The Hurricanes have just finished a state-of-the-art run to the CFP National Championship game and are entering 2026 ranked No. 13. But in South Carolina, their hopes for return to the playoff team might face a brick wall. The Oct. 3 matchup is the violent culmination of a three-game road run for the Hurricanes to commence ACC play. And if Miami is the established power, Clemson is still the sport’s biggest mystery after a staff shakeup and a recruiting approach that still buckles beneath recent trends.
“Clemson remains something of an unknown after Dabo Swinney replaced several members of his coaching staff while sticking to a conservative approach in the transfer portal this offseason,” Brad Crawford of CBS Sports wrote. “If Miami gets tripped up by the Tigers, winning the ACC has a lot more hurdles.”
The game is a classic “sliding doors” moment: a defending champion against a dynasty that just wants to prove that it’s not dead yet. If Swinney’s "conservative" bet on internal development pays off, the Tigers could effectively end Miami's repeat bid before the leaves even get color. A slugfest is probably around the corner as evidenced by the historical data.
The all-time series between the two programs is stalling at 7-7. While Clemson has led since Miami made the conference in 2004 (it had a 6-3 record that time), the Hurricanes showed they could carry the heat in their last meeting—a 28-20 double-overtime thriller in 2023. In 2026, Clemson is not the only school that is cast as the “Pivotal Foe.” CBS: