Clemson’s ACC slate is packed with uncertainty, and that’s before the Tigers ever get to the postseason picture.
With the new College Football Playoff setup guaranteeing a berth to every Power Four champion, winning the league matters more than ever. That shift came after a 7-5 Duke team captured the ACC a season ago, and Clemson remains one of the league’s biggest threats to make a run at the title.
The Tigers’ conference schedule brings four home ACC games - North Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech - and four road trips to Cal, Florida State, Syracuse and Duke. Clemson also has two SEC opponents on the overall schedule in LSU and South Carolina, giving the Tigers 10 Power Four matchups in all.
Here’s the biggest offseason storyline surrounding each of Clemson’s ACC opponents.
North Carolina is the first major question mark on the slate. The real issue is simple: does the Tar Heels program even have a path to success under Bill Belichick this season? Year two of the Belichick era has already gone sideways, and with GM Michael Lombardi on administrative leave, plus a disastrous first season under this setup, there’s a real chance the plug gets pulled before North Carolina even gets through its November schedule.
Cal brings a different kind of intrigue. Tosh Lupoi is back at his alma mater after serving as Oregon’s defensive coordinator, and he walks into a program that has found a niche since leaving the old Pac-12. The key piece is quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who already looks like the kind of talent Lupoi has to maximize if the Golden Bears are going to surprise people.
Miami enters the year with the pressure that comes from being close to the top already. The Hurricanes reached the College Football Playoff a season ago and played for a national championship, but they did it with Carson Beck at quarterback and now turn to Darian Mensah, the former Duke standout, in the latest transfer portal quarterback move. In Coral Gables, anything less than a deep playoff run will be viewed as a disappointment.
Virginia Tech has its own high-profile reset. James Franklin is now leading the Hokies after leaving Penn State and Vanderbilt, and he brought a wave of former Nittany Lions with him.
The move raises a simple but important question: how much better will Franklin actually be than Brent Pry? The Hokies should improve, but Franklin also shockingly kept Pry on the Virginia Tech staff.
Florida State is the kind of game that could tell the whole story of the Seminoles’ season. Mike Norvell is sitting on the hottest seat in college football, and he needs roughly eight wins to earn another year in Tallahassee. The Jordan Travis era is long gone, and Clemson’s main concern in the Halloween matchup may be whether Norvell is still coaching the team by then.
Syracuse is the toughest team to pin down. Fran Brown had a terrific first season two years ago and looked like another strong branch off Kirby Smart’s coaching tree, but after Steve Angeli’s early-season injury, the Orange fell apart and became an ACC bottom-feeder. The big mystery now is which version was the outlier: 2024 or 2025?
Georgia Tech has gone through a major offensive shakeup. Haynes King is gone, Aaron Philo followed Buster Faulkner to Florida, and Alberto Mendoza transferred in from Indiana to take over.
He’ll work under George Godsey, while Clemson legend DeAndre Hopkins has joined Godsey’s staff as well. There’s a lot of moving parts here, and that could keep the Yellow Jackets from finding their footing quickly.
Duke, meanwhile, is trying to prove last year was no fluke. The Blue Devils are the reigning ACC champions, but they didn’t receive a first-place vote at ACC Media Days.
Manny Diaz has already shown he can coach, but he has another quarterback transition to manage after Darian Mensah left for Miami. Former San Jose State quarterback Walker Eget is the next man up, though he’s still a bit banged up.
The question hanging over Duke is whether Diaz can keep winning there or starts looking for a better opportunity.
For Clemson, the schedule is full of teams with major questions attached. Syracuse may be the least complicated of the bunch; Brown is either the right guy or he isn’t.
Cal and Virginia Tech are especially hard to read with Lupoi and Franklin taking over. Either way, Clemson has a real chance to make the most of it.
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