Greg McElroy raves about scheduling agreement between Clemson, Notre Dame

On May 6, Clemson and Notre Dame announced that they’d agreed to a 12-year contract to play each other annually. The deal will begin in 2027 and run through the 2038 season. Shortly after the reveal, ESPN’s Greg McElroy raved about the deal between the two storied programs.

“I love that this is going on,” McElroy said. “Isn’t it kind of cool to know that over a 12-year period, you’re going to have the teams match up every single year? And one of the marquee programs, one of the marquee brands in the ACC, currently, is Clemson. So, I love that we might be able to create a little bit of a rivalry out of thin air because of the annual matchup that we’ll have for a decade and change.”

Notre Dame and Clemson have met eight times previously. The Tigers are 5-3 against the Fighting Irish, most recently defeating them 31-23 in 2023.

The two teams have met six times since 2015, including twice in the College Football Playoff. If Clemson and Notre Dame continue on their current trajectories, the yearly matchup should create over a decade of entertaining showdowns for fans.

Clemson returned to the CFP last season and is expected to be one of the top teams in the country in the 2025 campaign. Meanwhile, Notre Dame reached new heights under head coach Marcus Freeman last season, reaching the national championship before falling to Ohio State.

Evidently, McElroy doesn’t expect Notre Dame to fall out of the national college football conversation anytime soon. In fact, he believes the annual matchup will benefit the Fighting Irish even more than Clemson.

“The second thing I love about this is it creates more strength of schedule for Notre Dame,” McElroy said. “Now, you’re going to sit there and say, ‘Well, Notre Dame, they always kind of have a flexible schedule. They always have a difficult schedule for the most part. Some years, it’s a little more difficult than others, based on who they draw out of the ACC that year.’

“But I think now, as we continue to move forward in the College Football Playoff — we’ve already heard Greg Sankey discuss it. We’ve already heard Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti discuss it. They’re trying to figure out how to prioritize strength of schedule and strength of record above all else.”

With foes like Clemson on its schedule, Notre Dame will improve its case for making the CFP. Of course, while it might not be as poignant for Clemson, which is in a Power Four conference, the Tigers will still reap similar benefits.