Clemson and Notre Dame are set to announce a 12-year scheduling agreement that will pit the two college football powers against each other annually through 2038.
The Tigers and Irish have a recent history of marquee showdowns — they last met in 2023, when Clemson won 31-23 — and the schools believe the new agreement, which begins in 2027, could be the start of a top-tier rivalry.
«It's been such a great rivalry and we want to see it happen every year,» Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said. «It's historically been a great back-and-forth. I think we could see it continue to develop into one of the great rivalries in college football.»
Clemson and Notre Dame have played eight times, but many of their matchups have been marquee events. In 2015, Dabo Swinney captured attention for calling Clemson's two-point win over the Irish in the midst of a downpour a «bring your own guts game» that helped set the stage for the Tigers' first College Football Playoff appearance. In 2018, Clemson beat Notre Dame 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl before winning a national title two weeks later. In 2020, as Notre Dame played as a full-time member of the ACC due to COVID-19 scheduling concerns, the Irish won a shootout in the regular season only to fall to Clemson in the ACC championship game. Both teams made the playoff that year.
For both schools, however, the agreement has practical implications. Notre Dame ensures a marquee matchup on its schedule as it hopes to build a playoff résumé as an independent. For Clemson, an annual game against one of the biggest brands in college football figures to juice ratings for the Tigers as the ACC begins a new era in which revenue is distributed, in part, based on TV ratings.
The agreement also offers
Read more on espn.com
espn.com
