Clemson's 2025 season was one to forget. The Tigers went from one of the favorites to win it all to not even coming close to the College Football Playoff. But in 2026, still under HC Dabo Swinney, they are looking to bounce back in a big way.
Chad Morris is back as the offensive coordinator and the Tigers will soon get a taste of life without Cade Klubnik as Christopher Vizzina steps in as the head signal caller.
A good Clemson team is good for Miami
While Miami doesn't have to worry about their College Football Playoff path (win 11 games and they're in), it would help the Canes' resume if the Tigers were ranked when the teams met. And with the AP releasing its preseason top 25 today, that projects to be the case on Oct. 3.
Clemson fans probably would have liked to see their team sneak into the top 25, but the rankings still provided some optimism for their squad going into 2026.
Clemson came in as the de facto No. 26 team with 112 total points, just five points behind Missouri at No. 25. For Miami, that is going to potentially add another ranked team to their schedule, and as of today, the Canes only have one ranked team on the slate: Notre Dame, No. 4 in the preseason poll.
Clemson Tigers 2026 schedule
- Sept. 5: at LSU
- Sept. 12: vs. Georgia Southern
- Sept. 19: vs. North Carolina
- Sept. 25 (Fri): at California
- Oct. 3: vs. Miami
- Oct. 17: vs. Charleston Southern
- Oct. 24: vs. Virginia Tech
- Oct. 31: at Florida State
- Nov. 7: at Syracuse
- Nov. 14: vs. Georgia Tech
- Nov. 20 (Fri): at Duke
- Nov. 28: vs. South Carolina
When looking at the schedule, fans will immediately point to Clemson's matchup against a Lane Kiffin-led LSU squad and pencil in a loss. But a competitive game won't drop the Tigers down that much. And a win would vault them into the mid-teens.Â
But let's put that on the backburner. This is about the next three games on their schedule: Georgia Southern, North Carolina and Cal. Unless Clemson is just a shell of what it used to be, there won't be a scenario where this team starts the year 0-2. If that ends up being the case... well... just completely throw this all away. But that seems unlikely.
Then, moving into ACC play, Clemson gets a matchup against UNC which they will be favored to win and should come out with a victory. Remember, this is a team that is looking to avenge the horrors that defined the 2025 season, so they should be locked in and ready to go.
The biggest test for Clemson, after LSU and before Miami, will be Cal. The Golden Bears were among the "others receiving votes" section, just like Clemson was, and they also get this Friday night matchup at home.
Cal faces UCLA, Syracuse and Wagner before welcoming in the Tigers. If they truly are one of the top 40-ish teams in the country, they should be 3-0 at that time in the season. It tees up Clemson for a ranked win of their own before facing Miami. A 3-1 Clemson team, with their only loss coming to LSU, and one of their wins being a ranked win, should be able to sneak into the top 25 before the matchup against Miami.
All of this is just speculation at this point, and Clemson could go on a run after a couple early losses and end up ranked anyway. But it's important for Miami fans to know who to cheer for, and Clemson will be one of those teams early in the season (and potentially after the Miami game if the Canes take care of business).
Add us as a preferred source on Google