Selection Sunday is here. See Clemson football’s final bowl projections
It’s Selection Sunday for Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football team.
After finishing the regular season at 7-5 and on a four-game winning streak, the Tigers will learn what bowl game they’ll play in on Sunday afternoon.
The College Football Playoff selection show airs live on ESPN at noon. Once the final CFP Top 25 rankings are unveiled and the 12-team field is set, other bowl game announcements will start trickling out in the afternoon.
The ACC could miss the CFP entirely if Duke, which upset Virginia 27-20 in overtme in Saturday’s ACC championship game in Charlotte, is not awarded one of five automatic bids given to the CFP’s five highest ranked conference champions.
If that happens, the ACC would have 11 bowl-eligible teams, and Virginia and Duke both being available for non-CFP bowls could potentially push Clemson down in the pecking order from a Tier I/Tier II to Tier II/Tier III ACC bowl.
Here are the latest Clemson bowl projections as of Sunday morning.
The Athletic’s Clemson bowl projection
- Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Missouri (SEC)
- Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC
- Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)
The Athletic’s full bowl projections
ESPN’s Clemson bowl projections
- Pinstripe Bowl vs. Penn State (Big Ten)
- Yankee Stadium in New York City
- Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, noon ET (ABC)
- Fenway Bowl vs. Army (American)
- Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts
- Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, 2:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)
CBS Sports’ Clemson bowl projection
- Gasparilla Bowl vs. Memphis (American)
- Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida
- Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
CBS Sports’ full bowl projections
On3 Sports’ Clemson bowl projection
- Pinstripe Bowl vs. Penn State (Big Ten)
- Yankee Stadium in New York City
- Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, noon ET (ABC)
On3 Sports’ full bowl projections
USA Today Sports’ Clemson bowl projection
- Pinstripe Bowl vs. Penn State (Big Ten)
- Yankee Stadium in New York City
- Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, noon ET (ABC)
USA Today Sports’ full bowl projections
Athlon Sports’ Clemson bowl projection
- Sun Bowl vs. Arizona State (Big 12)
- Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas
- Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, 2 p.m. ET (CBS)
Athlon Sports’ full bowl projections
Sporting News’ Clemson bowl projection
- Fenway Bowl vs. Navy (American)
- Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts
- Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, 2:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Sporting News’ full bowl projections
Refresher on bowl game tie-ins for Clemson, ACC
The ACC has formal affiliations with 10 different bowl games for the 2025 season.
Once the College Football Playoff field is set on Sunday, Dec. 7, the conference and its bowl partners will select teams “based on several factors, including avoiding repeat appearances and matchups, regular-season win-loss records, and geographic proximity,” per the ACC.
Here are the ACC’s bowl game “tiers” for 2025.
- Group I: Holiday Bowl, Pop-Tarts Bowl, Gator Bowl
- Group II: Pinstripe Bowl, Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Sun Bowl
- Group III: Military Bowl, Fenway Bowl, Birmingham Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl
Eleven of the ACC’s 17 teams (65%) are bowl-eligible this season: Virginia (10-3), Miami (10-2), Georgia Tech (9-3), SMU (8-4), Pitt (8-4), Wake Forest (8-4), Louisville (8-4), Duke (8-5), Clemson (7-5), Cal (7-5) and NC State (7-5).
This story was originally published December 7, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
