ESPN predicts the final score of Clemson vs LSU football in Week 1

The Clemson Tigers will head to Baton Rouge for a prime time showdown against the LSU Tigers to kick off the 2026 college football season. Unlike a year ago, Clemson isn't being given much of a chance to come away with a victory. Clemson and LSU met at Memorial Stadium in the 2025 season opener. LSU

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What is the story about?

The Clemson Tigers will head to Baton Rouge for a prime time showdown against the LSU Tigers to kick off the 2026 college football season. Unlike a year ago, Clemson isn't being given much of a chance to come away with a victory.

Clemson and LSU met at Memorial Stadium in the 2025 season opener. LSU scored two second-half touchdowns while shutting out Clemson's offense for a 17-10 victory. That was more or less the high point of LSU's season, and the beginning of a long year for Clemson. Both teams limped to 7-6 seasons.

A lot has changed since this time a year ago. LSU fired Brian Kelly midway through the season and landed an SEC rival's head coach, Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin, in one of the most high-profile coaching carousel moves in college sports

history. Kiffin will coach his first game on the sidelines at Tiger Stadium Saturday night.

On the other sideline, Dabo Swinney begins his 19th season at Clemson since taking over as interim coach in 2008. He's guided the Tigers to unprecedented success, winning two national championships and nine ACC titles, but Clemson has slipped among the nation's elite programs in the modern landscape of college sports.

Both teams have new quarterbacks to open the 2026 season. LSU brought in former Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt in the transfer portal. Clemson named junior Christopher Vizzina its starting quarterback on Tuesday over talented four-star, dual-threat freshman Tait Reynolds.

Clemson is ranked No. 23 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and is unranked in the AP Top 25 poll. LSU is No. 13 in the Coaches Poll and No. 11 in the AP poll.

Can Swinney and Clemson pull an upset against an LSU team that expects to contend for, at minimum, a College Football Playoff berth right away under Kiffin?

Will Clemson upset LSU, Lane Kiffin in Week 1 college football showdown?

Ahead of Clemson-LSU, ESPN's Bill Connelly predicted the final score using his popular SP+ metrics. Connelly has the Bayou Bengals winning by two scores over Clemson, which is in line with oddsmakers' 10.5-point spread.

Connelly's final score prediction: LSU 28, Clemson 18.

He gives LSU a win probability of 73%.

Where Clemson, LSU football sit in ESPN SP+ rankings entering 2026

Clemson is No. 23 in the final ESPN SP+ team rankings entering the season.

The Tigers have an overall rating of 13.1. Clemson is one spot below the Iowa Hawkeyes (14.6) and one spot ahead of rival South Carolina (12.6) in ESPN's team rankings.

To break down Clemson's rating by units, SP+ gives the Tigers a 29.8 rating on offense (No. 46 nationally) and a 17.1 rating on defense (No. 18). In special teams, Clemson is given a 0.3 rating, which ranks 41st nationally.

LSU is No. 10 in the SP+ team rankings with an overall rating of 20.4, one spot behind the Texas A&M Aggies (20.9) and one spot ahead of the Oklahoma Sooners (18.8). The metrics give LSU a 32.6 rating on offense (No. 21 nationally), a 12.4 rating on defense that's No. 3 nationally, plus a 0.2 rating in special teams (No. 53).

What are ESPN SP+ rankings?

According to Connelly, SP+ is "simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you're lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you're strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise."

"SP+ is not a résumé ranking, so it does not automatically give credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling -- no good predictive system does," he adds.

Clemson football vs. LSU: start time, channel for Week 1

Start time, TV announcers for Clemson vs LSU football in Week 1

📸 Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports https://t.co/BgM6nBuikA pic.twitter.com/DNzu87u9Yt
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) September 1, 2026

Kickoff for Clemson-LSU in Week 1 of the 2026 college football season is 7:49 p.m. ET Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. The game will be televised on ABC. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will have the call of the game. Holly Rowe and Laura Rutledge will report from the sidelines.