Clemson–Florida State football rivalry
The Clemson–Florida State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Clemson Tigers football team of Clemson University and Florida State Seminoles football team of Florida State University. The schools have played each other annually since 1992. Both universities are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and during the era of ACC divisional play between 2005 and 2022, both teams competed in the ACC's Atlantic Division. For several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the matchup was known alternatively as the Bowden Bowl for the father, former head coach Bobby Bowden of the Seminoles, and the son, Tommy Bowden, formerly head coach of the Tigers.
| First meeting | November 7, 1970 Florida State, 38–13 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | September 23, 2023 No. 4 Florida State, 31–24OT |
| Next meeting | October 5, 2024, in Tallahassee |
| Stadiums | Memorial Stadium (Clemson) Doak Campbell Stadium (Florida State) |
| Trophy | Rampant Tiger Shield (since 2024) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 35 |
| All-time series | Florida State leads, 21–15 |
| Largest victory | Florida State, 57–0 (1993) |
| Longest win streak | Florida State, 11 (1992–2002) |
| Current win streak | Florida State, 1 (2023–Present) |
Similar to a period in the late 1980s, the now annual football game has recently seen a resurgence with national implications as both programs have returned to the national spotlight. Since Clemson's current head coach Dabo Swinney arrived on campus in 2003 as an assistant, the Tigers have won 13 of the last 20 games in this series. In 2016, CBS Sports named the Clemson–Florida State matchup as "the best annual game in college football", stating "Clemson–Florida State has supplanted Alabama–LSU as the one annual game you can bank on needing to watch to figure out the postseason." Both programs have accounted for over 30 ACC titles, and have represented the conference consistently in the post season since 2011.