Clemson Football Extends Long-Time Series with In-State FCS Opponent

The Clemson Tigers will continue their long standing series with this lower division foe that they'll play in the upcoming season.

Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Clemson Tigers mascot The Tiger during the CFP National playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers' football program has announced one of their non-conference opponents for the 2029 season, and it's a familiar foe.

Per Brandon Rink of TigerNet, the Tigers will face off against an in-state foe in the Furman Paladins at home on Nov. 17, 2029. Clemson is also currently slated to face the Paladins this upcoming season on Nov. 22 as well.

It may seem a little strange that the Tigers are scheduling this matchup now, but it's common practice for teams at the FBS level to schedule their non-conference opponents years out in advance.

Clemson has played the Paladins, who currently reside in the FCS, a total of 58 times dating back to 1896. Outside of their hated arch-rivals in the South Carolina Gamecocks, no other in-state program has faced off against the Tigers more than Furman.

That being said, it hasn't been a very competitive series as Clemson currently holds a 44-10-4 all-time record against the Paladins. Their most recent matchup came in the 2022 season, which unsurprisingly ended in a 35-12 Tigers' victory.

It's long been common practice for big name programs at the FBS level to schedule smaller programs as one of their allotted non-conference opponents, in order to give their team a bit of extra live game practice.

For their part, these lesser opponents typically walk away from the game with nice paycheck they can use to further fund their athletic departments.

According to The State, Clemson paid the Paladins $415,000 to make the trip up to Death Valley in 2022, and will likely pay a similar amount ahead of their November matchup this season.

The figure for their 2029 matchup is unlikely to be settled until we get much closer to the date, but whatever it ends up being will surely be worth Furman's while.

While the series not be the most competitive, it's still good for the sport that two long standing in-state foes are facing off on semi-regular basis. It could also lead to one of the best things about college athletics, which is the rare FCS upset of an FBS opponent.

Only time will tell if this comes to pass, but in the mean time both programs can look forward to continuing one of South Carolina's longest standing college football traditions.