This national outlet sees a bounce-back year in store for Dabo Swinney’s program after last season’s disappointing 7-6 finish.

USA TODAY Sports released its record projections for every FBS team ahead of the 2026 college football season, and the outlet predicts Clemson to finish the regular season with a 9-3 overall record.

USA TODAY projects the Tigers to place third in the final ACC standings with a 6-2 conference record, coming up just shy of an ACC Championship Game appearance.

USA TODAY forecasts Miami (10-2, 8-1) to finish first in the conference, followed by SMU (9-3, 7-2) in second.

“Miami is the no-doubt team to beat in the ACC, though SMU and maybe even Clemson could spoil the attempt of the Hurricanes to win the conference for the first time,” USA TODAY wrote.

After Clemson, Louisville (8-4, 6-3), Georgia Tech (7-5, 5-3), Virginia Tech (7-5, 5-4), Virginia (7-5, 5-4) and NC State (8-4, 5-4) are the next teams in the projected ACC standings.

North Carolina (3-9, 2-6) is projected to finish third-to-last, ahead of only Stanford (4-8, 2-7) and last-place Boston College (3-9, 1-7).

“Virginia Tech will make an immediate jump under James Franklin,” USA TODAY wrote. “You’ll have to scroll down to find Bill Belichick and North Carolina, again picked to finish well shy of bowl eligibility.”

In addition to the regular season win-loss records, USA TODAY analyst Paul Myerberg put Clemson at No. 25 overall in his complete 138-team FBS re-rank entering the 2026 season.

USA TODAY’s bowl projections have the Tigers missing out on the 12-team College Football Playoff and instead slotting into a postseason matchup against Houston in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Last season, after starting No. 4 in the preseason AP Poll, Clemson posted a 4-4 conference record and finished tied with four other teams for seventh place in the ACC standings.