By Will Vandervort.

Okay, the 2015 Clemson football schedule has been announced. You can all relax now. You can plan those road trips and get you tailgate parties set for the New Year.

As for me, it is time to break down this schedule for what it is. And it is a very tough one. I am not one to play the win-loss game a lot, but why not! Keep in mind this my opinion as of Jan. 29 so I have the right to change my mind many times between now and when these games are actually played.

First off let me say I don’t think Clemson can get through this season undefeated. There are just too many pitfalls to avoid. I do think the Tigers can go 11-1 or 10-2 possibly, but I can also see a scenario where they could be 9-3. The schedule is just too hard to predict in my opinion.

Eight of the Tigers 12 opponents for 2015 played in a postseason game last year. Four of them won a bowl game, another played in the College Football Playoffs and five of them won at least eight games last year.

Granted, those were last year’s accomplishments. But with the Tigers having to replace so many starters on defense, some will wonder if Clemson can manage its way through this difficult schedule and be the team many of the so-called experts think it can be next season.

Remember, one major newspaper has already picked Clemson to be the No. 2 team in the country in the way too-early preseason rankings. Several other reputable media outlets also have the Tigers in the top 10 at the start of the year.

Of course a lot of the Tigers’ success next year will depend on quarterback Deshaun Watson and how he returns from ACL surgery on his left knee. All indications, at this time, point to a full recovery, but until they get back on the practice fields and then in the game, you never really know.

The good news for Clemson is it gets a couple of weeks to break in its new starters on defense, while Watson builds some confidence in that left knee. After those early dates against Wofford and App. State, the Tigers will only have five days to prepare for a Louisville team that has lost just one game at home under head coach Bobby Petrino. I still like the Tigers to win this game. The Cardinals, who also play on five days rest have a lot of question marks to answer too, especially in the secondary.

No doubt, this is a dangerous game for a Clemson team that will more than likely be ranked inside the top 10. If the Tigers can survive this one, then it sets up a potentially huge match up in the national championship race 16 days later, when Notre Dame, for the first time since 1977, will come to Tigertown.

The Irish play Texas, Virginia and Georgia Tech prior to coming to Clemson so if they are undefeated as well, it can make for an exciting game in Death Valley that will have a lot riding on it.

If the Tigers can get through those two games without any damage, then that could set up a showdown with what should be an undefeated or one-loss Georgia Tech team coming into town. Last year, the Yellow Jackets embarrassed Clemson in Atlanta, but that was after Watson went down with his left knee injury.

Can we honestly expect Clemson to be undefeated after playing at Louisville, vs. Notre Dame and Georgia Tech in back-to-back-to-back emotional games? It will be hard, but they can? I for one do not like the outlook, you may disagree.

I think the Tigers come out of that three-game stretch with a 2-1 record and a 4-1 record overall at that point. I can see Clemson losing to either Georgia Tech or Notre Dame so in the win-loss game, I will put one of the losses there. Because the conference games matter more right now than the Notre Dame game, I will say the loss comes at home to the Irish only based on practical reasons and really nothing else.

This is all for fun, remember? So I will give the loss to Notre Dame.

Boston College will be a tough game as it always is for Clemson, but I still see the Tigers winning and improving to 5-1 at the mid-point of the season. Next comes a three-game stretch in which Clemson travels to Miami and NC State before hosting three-time defending ACC Champion Florida State in Death Valley.

This is a tough call. I expect Clemson to win at Miami and at NC State right now because I believe Clemson has more talent and better coached so let’s give the Tigers two victories and improve their record to 6-1 and 5-0 in the ACC at this point.

That sets up what should be the championship game in the ACC Atlantic Division between the Tigers and Florida State in Death Valley on Nov. 7. By the way, I expect Florida State, who has a much easier schedule than Clemson through the first eight weeks of the year, to be 7-1 and 5-1 in the ACC when that game kicks off.

I would not be surprised to see the Seminoles, or Clemson for that matter, undefeated when this game kicks off. Can you imagine the hype of this game if both teams are undefeated again and ranked in the top 5 this late in the season?

And by the way, I expect a different result this time around in Death Valley.

That will put Clemson at 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the ACC with wins over Louisville, NC State and Florida State – the three main challengers we suspect in the Atlantic Division to that point. With a trip to Syracuse and a home game against Wake Forest—the two worst teams in the ACC last year—it would be safe to assume Clemson would win both and clinch a berth in the ACC Championship Game.

I expect Clemson to be 10-1 and as ACC Atlantic Division Champs when it heads to Columbia to face the Gamecocks, which—depending on if No. 4 is healthy or plays with a torn ACL, again—I expect the Tigers to win.

Clemson will then face Georgia Tech who I expect will be either 9-3 or 10-2 in the ACC Championship Game. At that point, though it is tough to call, I will give Clemson a slight edge considering Bank of America Stadium will be like Death Valley Charlotte with all the fans in the seats wearing orange like I know they will.

So maybe 2016 begins with the Tigers playing in the College Football Playoffs or maybe they’re in New Orleans playing in the Sugar Bowl as part of the New Year’s Six. Either way, it should be a fun ride, no matter how hard it is to play the win-loss game with this year’s schedule.