Notre Dame football, Clemson agree to 12-year scheduling deal
SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football and Clemson are ready to meet annually, starting in 2027.
In a joint announcement Tuesday, the schools have agreed to a 12-year scheduling partnership that would operate independently of the ACC scheduling agreement. It marks Notre Dame's first new series of at least 12 games since 2002.
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"We strive to consistently create a football schedule that positions us for success in the College Football Playoff," Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said in a statement, "and that goal requires us to form historic partnerships like this one with Clemson."
Bevacqua, who recently marked his first full year at the helm of Notre Dame athletics, added the Clemson-Notre Dame rivalry "has already produced some of the most memorable moments in recent college football history."
Notre Dame, which remains fiercely independent in football, plays five ACC opponents each fall in a scheduling arrangement that dates to 2014. The annual meetings between the Irish and the Tigers would count as part of that five-game commitment.
Clemson leads the all-time series 5-3, including a 31-23 win at Death Valley in November of 2023. The perennial powers have met six times in the past decade, including a pair of Irish upsets at Notre Dame Stadium in 2020 (47-40 in double overtime) and 2022 (35-14).
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The Tigers claimed victories in the 2020 ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, N.C., when Covid-19 restrictions caused Notre Dame to play as a temporary ACC member, and in 2018 in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl.
At least one of the teams has been ranked in the top 15 entering all previous meetings. The series dates to a home-and-home in 1977 and 1979.
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Notre Dame and Clemson were already scheduled to meet at Clemson in 2027, 2031 and 2037, and in South Bend in 2028 and 2034. The 2031 matchup is currently slotted as the season opener, while the 2027-28 games are set for November.
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More matchups against ACC members Florida State and Miami also are under consideration, according to Yahoo Sports, as league commissioner Jim Phillips seeks to boost the ACC's national profile and access to the 12-team (for now) CFP.
Notre Dame opens the 2025 season on Aug. 31 against Miami at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Hurricanes are due to visit South Bend in 2026 under the ACC's schedule rotation for the Irish, who have a road game against the Seminoles that year on the books.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame, Clemson football agree to 12-year scheduling deal
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