It’s here: First look at Clemson football’s full 2026 game schedule
Clemson football’s 2026 schedule is complete.
On Monday night, the ACC released final schedules for each of its member schools during a TV special. Here is the full 12-game schedule for Dabo Swinney’s Tigers (* indicates ACC conference game):
- Sept. 5: at LSU
- Sept. 12: vs. Georgia Southern
- Sept. 19: vs. UNC*
- Sept. 25: at Cal* (Friday game)
- Oct. 3: vs. Miami*
- Oct. 10: OPEN
- Oct. 17: vs. Charleston Southern
- Oct. 24: vs. Virginia Tech*
- Oct. 31: at Florida State*
- Nov. 6/7: at Syracuse* (possible Friday game)
- Nov. 14: vs. Georgia Tech*
- Nov. 21: at Duke*
- Nov. 28: vs. South Carolina
Clemson’s four non-conference opponents and game dates were already known. The Tigers’ four ACC home opponents and ACC road opponents had already been announced, too, but specific game dates weren’t publicized until Monday.
The ACC generally releases kickoff times for the first three weeks of football season in late spring. Starting with Week 4, kickoff times are released during the season.
Here are some quick takeaways from Clemson’s 2026 schedule release:
Another marquee season opener vs. SEC school
Clemson will open the season against an SEC school for the third year in a row in 2026. After losing to Georgia in Atlanta in 2024 and LSU at home in 2025, Clemson travels to LSU’s Tiger Stadium for its 2026 season opener on Saturday, Sept. 5.
It’ll be a rocking crowd at the other “Death Valley” (official capacity 102,321) for the second game of a Clemson-LSU home-and-home. LSU will be debuting a new-look roster under former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who controversially left his former school after the regular season and before the College Football Playoff.
LSU signed former Arizona State standout quarterback Sam Leavitt among other high-level transfers and ranks No. 15 in ESPN’s Way Too Early Top 25. Clemson will open on the road vs. an SEC team for the first time since 2016 (Auburn).
Entertaining home schedule on deck
Clemson’s home opener vs. Sun Belt school Georgia Southern doesn’t exactly move the needle. But there are plenty of fun matchups on deck at Memorial Stadium.
Swinney and the Tigers open ACC play on Sept. 19 vs. UNC and NFL coaching legend Bill Belichick, who’s in his second year with the Tar Heels. On Oct. 3, Clemson hosts Miami, the talk of the ACC after narrowly losing to Indiana in the 2026 national title game as the No. 10 seed (and reportedly poaching Duke QB Darian Mensah).
Clemson also hosts Virginia Tech in its first season under former Penn State coach James Franklin and gets its turn hosting the Palmetto Bowl vs. Shane Beamer and South Carolina (who’ve beaten the Tigers on their home field twice in a row).
Going west, and other scheduling quirks
Two years after Stanford, Cal and SMU formally joined the ACC, Clemson football makes it first cross-country trip to face one of those expansion teams on the road.
The Tigers play Cal in Berkeley on Friday, Sept. 25, which means they’ll be on a short week after hosting UNC the previous Saturday. Clemson will then fly across three time zones before going up against the Golden Bears (not an ideal travel and recovery setup for any program).
Clemson could play two Friday games in 2026 if its November road game at Syracuse is “flexed” to Friday by the ACC and its TV partners. That game is currently scheduled for Friday, Nov. 6 or Saturday, Nov. 7 and the team said in a news release that Syracuse game info will be determined at a later date.
Because of the way the calendar falls this year, Clemson also only has one off week (weekend of Oct. 9-11) this season after having two off weeks in 2024 and 2025. The Tigers will play five games in a row, break and finish with seven straight.
This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 5:58 PM with the headline "It’s here: First look at Clemson football’s full 2026 game schedule."
