247Sports projects Clemson to play in this 2024 college football bowl game

The Clemson football team has made numerous postseason trips to Orlando over the years.

The Tigers have appeared in bowl games in the city no less than seven times, with three appearances coming in the Citrus Bowl (typically played on New Year’s Day) and four in the city’s second bowl game.

Orlando’s “other bowl” is now in its second season as the Pop Tarts Bowl. It was initially dubbed the Blockbuster Bowl in the early 90s before taking on a host of other names such as the CarQuest Bowl, MicronPC Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, Russell Athletic Bowl and Cheez-It Bowl.

And according to 247Sports’ Brad Crawford, it’s the Pop Tarts Bowl that Clemson will be playing in by the end of the year. Crawford made his bowl projections for the 2024 college football season earlier this week and sees the Tigers missing the 12-team College Football Playoff and facing Utah at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium.

Crawford opines:

“The Utes and Tigers have never met on the gridiron, so needless to say this would be one of the bowl season’s most-anticipated matchups outside of the College Football Playoff. It would also mean organizers in Orlando lobbied for both selections, high-end finishers in the Big 12 and ACC not quite good enough to be voted in the playoff. Utah is one of the trendy picks to win the Big 12, but few are taking Clemson to unseat Florida State at the top of the ACC.”

That last sentence is a bit debatable. The Sporting News’ Bill Bender recently projected Clemson to meet Alabama in the first round of the College Football Playoff, setting the stage for a Tigers vs. Tide “Round V” matchup. The two programs met four consecutive years in the four-team Playoff between 2015-2018.

Phil Steele also picked the Tigers to finish ahead of Florida State in the 2024 ACC race to earn an automatic Playoff bid.

Kansas State defeated NC State in last year’s Pop Tarts Bowl, 28-19. Clemson earned a trip to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville after its 8-4 regular season. The Tigers defeated Kentucky, 38-35, after scoring 28 points in the fourth quarter to erase a 21-10 deficit.

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