Clemson Shooting For Return to ACC Title Game in Prime Time

The Clemson Tigers and the rest of the ACC know when the league’s championship game will start in December.

Clemson defensive lineman DeMonte Capehart (19) and Clemson defensive end T.J. Parker (3) tackle Clemson wide receiver Antonio Williams(0) during the Spring football game in Clemson, S.C. Saturday, April 6, 2024. / Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced on Monday that this year’s football championship game would be featured in prime time on ABC at 8 p.m. eastern on Dec. 7.

The contest, set to be played at Charlotte’s Bank of American Stadium, the home of the Charlotte Panthers, will be played between the two teams with the best conference winning percentage at the end of the regular season.

This will be the second straight season the ACC has played without divisions. Florida State won last year’s title game to cap off a 13-0 season but was not picked to make the College Football Playoff.

The 8 p.m. eastern kickoff marks the 15th time in the last 16 years that the game will be held in primetime. This is also the 13th time in the last 14 years that Bank of American will host the game. The ACC has a contract with the stadium through 2030.

The ACC championship games at Bank of America Stadium have averaged nearly 70,000 fans in attendance, excluding the 2020 title game, which had limited attendance due to the pandemic.

Clemson hopes it has plenty of fans in the stands come December. In fact, Bank of America Stadium has been a home-away-from-home for most of the past 12 years.

The Tigers made their first ACC title game appearance in 2011, where it beat Virginia Tech, 38-10. After a three-year absence, during which Florida State won the game each year, Clemson went to the title game seven of the next eight seasons, starting in 2015.

The Tigers won each of those games at Bank of America, with the exception of the 2016 game, which was in Orlando, Fla. Clemson won the title game in Orlando, as well.

Many of those title games were the gateway for Clemson to make the College Football Playoff.  

The Tigers made the second-most appearances in the CFP in the four-team playoff era, which started with the 2014 season. Only Alabama, with eight, has more.

Clemson won the national championship at the end of the 2016 and 2018 seasons, while reaching the championship game at the end of the 2015 and 2019 seasons.

The Tigers have not been to the CFP since it lost in the semifinals of the 2020 season. With the expanded playoff they have a chance to end their three-year drought coming off a 9-4 season that ended with a win over Kentucky in the Gator Bowl.

Clemson opens the season on Aug. 31 in Atlanta against Georgia. After the opener the Tigers return home for three straight games — vs. Appalachian State on Sept. 7, vs. NC State on Sept. 21 to open ACC play and vs. Stanford on Sept. 28, marking their first game against one of the league’s three new members, which includes Cal and SMU.

The rest of the schedule includes trips to Florida State Oct. 5 and Wake Forest on Oct. 12, followed two straight home contests with Virginia on Oct. 19 and Louisville on Nov. 2. Clemson then travels to Virginia Tech on Nov. 9 and Pitt on Nov. 16, followed by home games with The Citadel on Nov. 23 and South Carolina on Nov. 30.