Clemson and Notre Dame have had their fair share of memorable moments over the past decade, but now things are about to get a whole lot more interesting.
According to a new agreement reported by Yahoo Sports, the Tigers and Fighting Irish will meet on the football field every year from 2027 through 2038. That’s right — these two college football powers are locking in a 12-year annual series that has all the makings of something special.
And honestly? This might be the rivalry we didn’t know we were missing.
There’s something pretty electric about seeing the iconic Tiger paw go up against that classic golden dome. Clemson has long been one of the most dominant programs in the South, while Notre Dame is steeped in tradition.
They've already played eight times, with Clemson holding a 5-3 advantage, but most of those matchups have come recently — including a couple of matchups in the College Football Playoff and the 2020 ACC Championship Game. With both programs having playoff aspirations nearly every year, adding this game to the annual calendar gives fans a guaranteed top-tier showdown every fall.
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One of the biggest gripes about modern college football is that the regular season can sometimes feel stale — especially with certain teams never facing each other. That’s where this Clemson-Notre Dame agreement changes the game. This isn’t just a one-off. It’s not even a home-and-home. It’s a commitment to make this an annual event, and it’s happening even though Notre Dame isn’t a full ACC member in football. That tells you how much both sides wanted this.
The Irish will treat this as one of their five required ACC matchups, and for Clemson, it’s a high-profile non-conference game that boosts their schedule without leaving the ACC footprint. It’s smart football scheduling and will help generate revenue for both programs, while giving the fans something that we want to see.
And let’s be real: the ACC needs this kind of juice. With conference realignment shaking things up and schools like Clemson and Florida State battling the league for more equitable revenue, marquee games like this help the ACC keep up. It also doesn't hurt that Notre Dame is reportedly going to play Florida State and Miami more often too.
But back to the Tigers and the Irish.
The series will include home games for Clemson in 2027, 2031, and 2037, while Notre Dame will host in 2028 and 2034. The other seven years will fill in around those dates, guaranteeing consistency — and likely, a heavy national spotlight. It’s easy to see this game landing in primetime on NBC, ABC, or ESPN every single year.
It’s not just that these two teams are big names. It’s how they match up. Clemson’s strength has historically been its defense and quarterback development under Dabo Swinney. Notre Dame, now under Marcus Freeman, has put an emphasis on physicality, playmaking on defense, and developing an offensive identity that can hang with the big boys.
In recent years, we'v already seen some fun ones between the two schools. There was the 2020 double-header, when Notre Dame stunned a Trevor Lawrence-less Clemson team in South Bend before the Tigers got their revenge in the ACC Championship game. In 2022, Notre Dame dominated in a 35-14 win, only for Clemson to return the favor with a gritty 31-23 victory in 2023. Perhaps the most memorable came in 2015 when the two teams played a in historic flood, with Clemson holding up on a goal line stand on a two-point conversion to beat the Irish 24-22.
What makes a rivalry a rivalry? History, sure. But more than that — it’s familiarity, pride, high stakes, and a little bit of disdain that grows year after year. That doesn’t happen overnight. But give these two a dozen years of annual matchups, and don't be surprised if the Clemson-Notre Dame matchup starts to carry the same kind of weight as some of the other massive rivalries in college football.
Could it even potentially become Clemson's biggest rivalry game over in-state rival South Carolina? It's certainly possible.