After securing their 15th consecutive winning season in their win against South Carolina, the Clemson Tigers now have about a month to rest and prepare for their upcoming bowl game. While the Tigers know they will be going bowling, their destination is still to be determined this Sunday.
Following this past Saturday’s slate, multiple major sports outlets have released their projections for the upcoming bowl season.
CBS Sports projects that Clemson will face off against South Florida in the Dec. 19 Gasparilla Bowl, which takes place in Tampa, Florida, and has tie-ins with the ACC, SEC and American conferences.
South Florida capped off a strong regular season this past weekend with a dominant 52-3 victory over Rice. The Bulls reached as high as No. 18 in the AP poll this season, which came in Week 3 after South Florida toppled No. 13 Florida.
The Bulls have looked stout on offense this season, totaling the second-most yards and fifth-most yards per play in the FBS. However, that production came under head coach Alex Golesh, who was recently hired by Auburn to fill its head coaching vacancy.
Without Golesh at the helm, it would be interesting to see if the Bulls could produce at the same level against a Clemson defense that found its footing toward the end of the season, especially if players and staff members opt out of the game to follow Golesh to Auburn.
ESPN released two different projections for the Tigers on Sunday in a complete bowl season projection published by writers Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach.
Bonagura projects that Clemson will match up against Army in the Fenway Bowl in Boston on Dec. 27, which has tie-ins with the ACC and American Conference.
After coming off its first-ever conference title in 2024, Army currently sits at 6-5 as it awaits the annual Army-Navy game on Dec. 13 to finish out the regular season.
Army is known for its traditional flexbone offense, which often utilizes the triple option and is heavily reliant on the ground game. A year ago, this would have spelled trouble for a Clemson defense that allowed 4.7 yards per carry.
However, the Tigers turned that stat on its head this season, allowing just 3.6 yards per carry, more than a full yard less. Schlabach projects the Tigers to go elsewhere, though, predicting that Clemson will play Arizona State in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on New Year’s Eve. The Sun Bowl chooses from a pool of eligible ACC teams, as well as Pac-12 legacy schools.
Arizona State is a season removed from a 2024 playoff run that saw the team almost defeat the Texas Longhorns. The Sun Devils finished their 2025 regular season with an 8-4 record after a crushing 23-7 loss to Arizona.
While Arizona State will not see another playoff berth this season, the team earned a victory against Texas Tech back in October. Texas Tech currently sits fifth in the College Football Playoff, indicating that the Sun Devils can compete with higher-caliber teams.
Other potential bowl destinations for Clemson include the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27 in New York, the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 29 in Alabama and the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Jan. 2 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Tigers will officially find out where they will bowl on Sunday, Dec. 7, during the College Football Playoff selection show, which will be televised on ESPN from noon to 3 p.m.
