The Clemson Tigers learned the hard way what coach Fran Brown's Syracuse program is capable of last season when the Orange visited Death Valley on Sept. 20. A little over a year later, Dabo Swinney's team heads north to face Syracuse again in Week 10 of the 2026 college football season.
Syracuse went to Clemson and thoroughly dominated the Tigers last year in a 34-21 beatdown. It was a stunning rebuke of a Clemson team that had ACC and national championship hopes entering the season and were ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP Top 25.
The game turned out to be the high point for Syracuse in 2025. The Orange lost starting quarterback Steve Angeli against Clemson and proceeded to drop each of their last eight games to finish 3-9.
Syracuse (4-4, 2-4
ACC) recently proved it is still capable of sneaking up on teams. The Orange pulled off a big upset in Week 9 by knocking off previously 19th-ranked SMU, 30-27, at JMA Wireless Dome. Angeli threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Noah Meyers with 17 seconds remaining to put Syracuse on top for good.
Clemson (5-3, 3-2) had its own feel-good moment in Week 9. The Tigers went to Tallahassee and handed Florida State its latest loss in the Clemson-FSU rivalry. Tait Reynolds threw two touchdowns in the first half, doubling his season total entering the night, and he used a 79-yard touchdown run on third-and-long late in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Reynolds was 18 of 32 with 189 passing yards and the two touchdowns. Clemson's defense forced three interceptions, including two from cornerback Elliot Washington II. Washington picked off FSU starter Ashton Daniels in the end zone on the Seminoles' final drive.
Will Clemson get some belated revenge on Syracuse in Week 10? Here's ESPN's prediction for Saturday's game.
Will Clemson football beat Syracuse? ESPN's final score prediction
Ahead of Clemson-Syracuse, ESPN's Bill Connelly predicted the final score using his popular SP+ metrics. Connelly has the Tigers winning narrowly, which is in line with the oddsmakers' 2.5-point spread favoring Clemson.
Connelly's final score prediction: Clemson 27, Syracuse 23.
He gives the Tigers a win probability of 60%.
Where Clemson sits in ESPN SP+ rankings entering Week 10 at Syracuse
Clemson is No. 54 in ESPN's SP+ team rankings, up one spot from last week. The Tigers have an overall rating of 3.7, down from 4.7 a week ago. Clemson is one spot ahead of Mississippi State and one spot below North Carolina in ESPN's overall FBS team rankings.
To break down Clemson's rating by unit, SP+ gives the Tigers a 23.4 rating on offense (No. 93 nationally, up four spots from last week) and a 20.2 rating on defense, which is 30th nationally and is down five spots from before the Tigers' win at Florida State. In special teams, Clemson has a 0.5 rating, which ranks 11th-best in the nation.
Syracuse is No. 82 in the SP+ team rankings with an overall rating of minus-2.9, one spot below Arkansas and one ahead of Tulsa. The metrics give the Orange a 26.3 rating on offense that's No. 67 nationally, a 29.1 rating on defense that's No. 92, and a minus-0.2 rating in special teams that's 94th in the country.
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. Syracuse: start time, TV channel for Week 10 road trip
Clemson vs. Syracuse: Three keys to cooling the hot Orange
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) November 4, 2026
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Kickoff for Clemson-Syracuse in Week 10 of the 2026 college football season is noon ET Saturday at JMA Wireless Dome in New York. The game can be seen on ESPN2. Lowell Galindo and Kirk Morrison will have the call of the game. Dawn Davenport will report from the sidelines.
Clemson football schedule 2026
All times Eastern.
- Sept. 5: at LSU Tigers (L, 51-10)
- Sept. 12: vs. Georgia Southern Eagles (W, 22-7)
- Sept. 19: vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (W, 28-20)
- Sept. 25: at California Golden Bears (W, 24-10)
- Oct. 3: vs. Miami Hurricanes (L, 41-13)
- Oct. 17: vs. Charleston Southern Buccaneers (W, 37-0)
- Oct. 24: vs. Virginia Tech Hokies (L, 20-16)
- Oct. 31: at Florida State Seminoles (W, 36-24)
- Nov. 7: at Syracuse Orange, noon ET, ESPN2
- Nov. 14: vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 12:30 p.m., The CW
- Nov. 20: at Duke Blue Devils, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
- Nov. 28: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks, TBA
Record: 5-3 overall, 3-2.
Clemson’s Dabo Swinney comments on Florida State firing Mike Norvell
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) November 4, 2026
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: ESPN predicts the final score of Clemson football vs. Syracuse
