Updated Bowl Projections for Clemson Football After Victory Over Florida State

After bouncing back with a 36-24 road win over Florida State this past weekend, the Clemson Tigers need just one more win to become bowl-eligible, as they now sit at 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the ACC.

That said, it’s time to take a look at the updated bowl projections for the program, with multiple outlet writers having changed their opinions on where they think Clemson will be headed come this postseason.

Note: Head coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers have been bowl-eligible for the past 21 consecutive seasons, which is the fourth-longest streak among FBS programs.

ESPN

Following the Tigers’ Week 8 loss to Virginia Tech, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach projected the Tigers to face off against Oregon State in the Old El Paso Sun Bowl on Dec. 31, and that hasn’t changed.

However, the two teams now sit at the same overall record, with Clemson obviously taking home a win while the Beavers’ five-game winning streak was broken, suffering a 38-22 loss to Fresno State on Saturday.

Still, they boast the nation’s top passer and receiver in quarterback Braden Atkinson, who’s totaled nearly 3,000 yards through the air and true freshman wideout Jesse Legree, who leads the country in both receiving yards (1,110) and touchdowns (14) through eight contests.

Kyle Bonagura, on the other hand, switched his projection entirely. Last week, he had Clemson heading South for the inaugural TransPerfect San Juan Bowl against Georgia State, which the Tigers will face in next year’s season opener.

But after a win this week, the longtime ESPN writer switched his pick to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Penn State. The postseason contest will be held in the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Dec. 26 at 3:30 p.m.

Clemson’s last appearance in the game came in 2010, the final year it went by the Meineke Car Care Bowl, when the Tigers faced USF. Penn State has never been featured.

The Tigers and Nittany Lions met for the first time in last year’s Pinstripe Bowl, but this year’s Penn State squad looks entirely different.

After firing head coach James Franklin and hiring Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, the program saw heavy transfer turnover in both directions. For a while, those offseason moves suggested the Nittany Lions could compete in the Big Ten, as they opened the season ranked No. 18. But that hasn’t panned out. Penn State has lost four of its last five games and sits at 4-4 overall and 1-4 in conference play.

Clemson’s projection makes plenty of sense, since an ACC team is selected every year. Penn State is a different story. Given the program’s history and the fact that only three Big Ten teams have been chosen in the past decade, I’d be surprised to see the Nittany Lions land the spot. Then again, all three of those selections came within the last six years, so only time will tell.

CBS Sports

Over the past two weeks, CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford has projected Clemson to play in the Sun Bowl against Washington, a team the Tigers have never faced. But he’s now changed his choice.

Similar to Schlabach of ESPN, Crawford has the Tigers headed to Puerto Rico for the San Juan Bowl, but instead of Oregon State, he has Marshall listed as the opponent. It would be the first time the two teams have met.

The Sun Belt program currently has the same record as the Tigers and is 2-2 in conference play, but I don’t think they’d have much of a chance against Clemson based on their losses this season.

They lost to a pretty bad Coastal Carolina team and were destroyed by James Madison, 45-17. The lone Power Four program they’ve faced is Penn State, and they were shut out 45-0.

Either way, I understand the selection based on record projection finishes, but unless they want to have weak viewership, I don't see this matchup occurring.

Sports Illustrated

For the second week in a row, Sports Illustrated’s Bryan Fischer has Clemson facing No. 18 USC in the Will & Trust Holiday Bowl.

I can easily see the Trojans landing in the postseason matchup. They upset No. 11 Ohio State this past weekend to improve to 7-2, and while they’ll likely be underdogs against No. 6 Indiana and No. 5 UCLA, even losses in both would leave them at 8-4, right around where most Holiday Bowl teams finish.

Clemson, on the other hand, may need to win out, or at least win out in ACC play, which could be a struggle given its inconsistency.

On3

Like multiple other projections recently, On3’s Brett McMurphy had the Tigers bowling in San Juan against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in last week’s edition of bowl projection.

This week, though, he’s changed his prediction to one we’ve seen before: the Freedom Mortgage Military Bowl vs. UTSA. The contest would be the first meeting between the two teams and the first time either program has participated in the bowl game.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see the Tigers land in the Military Bowl at this rate, but given how the Roadrunners have played, I don’t see them getting the nod. Entering Week 10, UTSA sits at 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), with its lone loss coming against No. 1 Texas in Week 3.

I could easily see them winning out, finishing 11-1 and reaching the conference championship game. Even if they slip against their closest competitor, North Texas, they’d still be 10-2 and likely wouldn’t be high on the Military Bowl’s list of selections.

Still, we’ve seen a similar scenario play out in this game before, so it’s not impossible. In 2023, Tulane finished the regular season 11-1, reached the AAC Championship Game and fell to SMU, 26-14. The Green Wave were then selected for the Military Bowl against Virginia Tech, where they lost yet again, 41-20, to finish 11-3.

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