About

The Clemson Tigers are the American football team at Clemson University. The Tigers compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Division (divisions were dissolved in 2023) of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In recent years, the Tigers have been ranked among the most elite college football programs in the United States. Formed in 1896, the program has an all-time record of 790–466–44, with a bowl record of 28–22. Clemson was a College Football Playoff finalist in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019, defeating Alabama in both 2016 and 2018 to secure the national title. Clemson has had six undefeated seasons (including the first-ever 15–0 team), boasted six consecutive playoff appearances from 2015 to 2021, and retains 27 conference championships, including 8 since 2011. Its alumni includes over 100 All-Americans, 17 Academic All-Americans and over 250 players in the National Football League. Clemson has had eight members inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: players Banks McFadden, Terry Kinard, Jeff Davis, and C. J. Spiller along with coaches John Heisman, Jess Neely, Frank Howard, and Danny Ford. Clemson's streak of eleven consecutive 10-win seasons ranks second in active streaks behind the Alabama Crimson Tide. Clemson is one of the founding members of the ACC and holds 21 ACC titles, the most of any member. Its 27 total conference titles, including six consecutive ACC titles from 2015 to 2020, are the most of any ACC school. Clemson's most recent ACC title came in 2022, against North Carolina. Among its eight undefeated regular seasons, Clemson was crowned poll-era national champions and finished with its third perfect season with a win over Nebraska in the 1982 Orange Bowl, and was the National Championship Finalist Runner-up with a 14–1 record in 2015. The following season, Clemson won the National Title over No. 1 Alabama in college football's first National Championship rematch in 2016, and again in 2018. The Tigers have 46 bowl appearances, 20 of which are among the New Year's Six Bowls, including nine during the "Big Four" era. Clemson has 34 finishes in the final top 25 in the modern era and it finished in either the Associated Press final poll or the coaches' final poll a combined 59 times since 1939. The Tigers play their home games in Memorial Stadium on the university's Clemson, South Carolina campus. The stadium's nickname, "Death Valley" was coined in 1948 by Presbyterian College head coach Lonnie McMillan after his teams were routinely defeated there. Memorial Stadium is among the largest stadiums in college football.