ESPN predicts the final score of Clemson football vs. California

Clemson football's ACC schedule continues in Week 4 of the 2026 college football season when Dabo Swinney's Tigers visit Berkeley for a game against the California Golden Bears and first-year coach Tosh Lupoi. It's the first meeting between the two programs in the regular season. Clemson fell to Cal

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What is the story about?

Clemson football's ACC schedule continues in Week 4 of the 2026 college football season when Dabo Swinney's Tigers visit Berkeley for a game against the California Golden Bears and first-year coach Tosh Lupoi.

It's the first meeting between the two programs in the regular season. Clemson fell to Cal in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 1, 1992, 37-13, in the teams' lone matchup. The Golden Bears joined the ACC in 2024 amid the most recent wave of conference realignment.

The Tigers (2-1, 1-0 ACC) and California (2-1, 1-0) are coming off wins in Week 3. Clemson came to life after a grueling 2 1/2 hour weather delay to slip past North Carolina, 28-20, at Memorial Stadium behind two touchdown runs in the final 5:01.

Sophomore running back and former

four-star recruit Gideon Davidson followed a 45-yard run with an 8-yard rush that put the Tigers ahead, 21-20, with just over five minutes remaining. After the defense forced a turnover on downs, Tyler Brown broke free for a 34-yard touchdown run to extend the lead with a minute left.

Four-star freshman Tait Reynolds completed his final seven passes for 115 yards and finished 20 of 29 for 215 yards with one touchdown and an interception in his first career start. Reynolds also had 26 rushing yards.

Nolan Hauser went 3 for 3 on field goal tries and was named ACC Specialist of the Week for the second straight week. Will Heldt had three tackles and two sacks to earn the co-Defensive Lineman of the Week honor.

California defeated Wagner, an FCS foe, 49-7, in Week 3. The Bears beat Syracuse, 21-18, in their ACC opener on Sept. 12 at JMA Wireless Dome (formerly the Carrier Dome) in New York.

Will Clemson win its third straight, or will Cal edge the Tigers?

Will Clemson football beat California in Week 4?

Ahead of Clemson-Cal, ESPN's Bill Connelly predicted the final score using his popular SP+ metrics. Connelly has the Tigers winning narrowly, which is in line with what oddsmakers are saying.

Connelly's final score prediction: Clemson 27, California 23.

He gives Clemson a win probability of 60%.

Where Clemson football sits in ESPN SP+ rankings entering Week 4

Clemson is No. 45 in the ESPN SP+ team rankings, down five spots from this time last week.

The Tigers have an overall rating of 7.1, down from 8.1 a week ago. Clemson is one spot below the Northwestern Wildcats (7.7) and one spot ahead of ACC rival Duke (7.0) in ESPN's team rankings.

To break down Clemson's rating by units, SP+ gives the Tigers a 26.4 rating on offense (No. 74 nationally, down eight spots from last week) and a 19.6 rating on defense, which is 27th nationally and is down two spots from before the Tigers' win over UNC. In special teams, Clemson is given a 0.3 rating, which ranks 35th in the nation.

Caifornia is No. 67 in the SP+ team rankings with an overall rating of 0.8, which is one spot behind South Florida (1.9) and one spot ahead of Army (0.2). The metrics give the Bears a 27.6 rating on offense (No. 59 nationally) and a 26.5 rating on defense that's No. 74 in the nation.

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. Cal: start time, TV channel for Week 4

TV channel, commentators for Clemson football vs. California

📸 Ashley Tumlin, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect https://t.co/glQkX62jw3 pic.twitter.com/Lddxvxm1ji
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) September 22, 2026

Kickoff for Clemson-California in Week 4 of the 2026 college football season is 10:30 p.m. ET Friday at California Memorial Stadium. The game can be seen on ESPN. Mike Monaco and Jordan Rodgers will have the call of the game. Dana Boyle will report from the sidelines.