Clemson's Week 1 Opponent Revealed For 2027 Season

Compared to recent seasons, the Clemson Tigers will have a lower-tier opponent to begin the 2027 season, which will be played at home.

Clemson will open up its 2027 season against Georgia State on Aug. 28 at home. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For years, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has been putting the Tigers up against a top opponent to begin his season. Now, for the first time in almost 10 years, they won’t open up the season with a Power Four opponent. 

It was revealed on Thursday that Clemson will host Georgia State inside Memorial Stadium to open up the 2027 season. That game will take place on Aug. 28, being the first opponent that the program is playing that isn’t from a top conference since 2018. 

Clemson to open 2027 season at home against Georgia Statehttps://t.co/COgxM0lc8k

— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) September 10, 2026

FBSchedules.com had the report first, despite rumors over the summer that Clemson was going to open its season next year against NC State. However, it’s a pivot to Georgia State instead, another Sun Belt team, to round out the Tigers’ non-conference schedule. 

The program will open up a home-and-home series with Notre Dame next season, which will run through 2037. That game is expected around the end of October, and it will be at home. Clemson will also play Wofford and South Carolina, of course, in its Palmetto Bowl contest, but that will be played inside Williams-Brice Stadium. 

Clemson’s pivot to a Sun Belt opponent in the opening week of the season changes the way the Tigers can look at the season. The program has played top opponents like LSU and Georgia over the last few years to start its season, while other ACC opponents like Duke, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest have given the Tigers fits, especially the Blue Devils in 2023. 

Swinney hasn’t seen success as much as he would’ve liked in those games. Clemson has lost five of its last six season openers, dating back to the 2021 loss to Georgia in Charlotte. The only contest the Tigers won in Week 1 during that stretch was in 2022 against Georgia Tech, who would end up finishing at the bottom of the ACC table. 

Those games have put Clemson on the wrong foot to enter each of its seasons, especially for a program that has had College Football Playoff and national championship hopes going into every season. The Tigers were blown out by over 40 points by LSU to begin this season, and it deflated those goals very quickly. 

But, 2027 looks to begin on a high note, and Clemson should have a favorable start to the season against a Panthers squad that its beaten in the only time they played, back in 2014. 

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