Clemson vs. North Carolina
Clemson and North Carolina have 60 meetings on file, the first in 1903; Clemson leads the series 41–18–1 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Clemson 9–1, and Clemson has won the last 8. Share
2029 at North Carolina; 2030 at Clemson. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).
- Clemson wins
- 41
- North Carolina wins
- 18
- Ties
- 1
- Earliest on file
- 1903
- Longest streak
- 8 Clemson
- Current streak
- 8 Clemson
- Last 10 meetings
- Clemson 9–1
- Most recent
- 2026
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1–1 | ||||||||||
| 1910s | 0–1 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 2–1 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 7–3 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 5–4–1 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | 8–2 | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 6–4 | ||||||||||
| 2000s | 4–1 | ||||||||||
| 2010s | 4–1 | ||||||||||
| 2020s | 4–0 |
- Both ranked
- 5 meetings: Clemson 5, North Carolina 0; 2 both in the top 10
- Average margin
- 14.7 points; 24 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At Clemson
- 22–8 Clemson’s record at home
- At North Carolina
- 10–17–1 North Carolina’s record at home
- Neutral sites
- 2–0 Clemson first
- Shutouts
- 7
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Games that tell the story
- Clemson’s biggest win2006: Clemson 52, North Carolina 7by 45 points
- North Carolina’s biggest win1996: North Carolina 45, Clemson 0by 45 points
- Upset1994: Clemson 28, North Carolina 17Clemson had a 26% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1973: Clemson 37, North Carolina 29Clemson had a 31% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset2001: North Carolina 38, Clemson 3North Carolina had a 34% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Ranked showdown2015: Clemson 45, North Carolina 37No. 8 North Carolina at No. 1 Clemson
- Ranked showdown1981: Clemson 10, North Carolina 8No. 2 Clemson at No. 8 North Carolina
- Ranked showdown1959: Clemson 20, North Carolina 18No. 18 Clemson at No. 12 North Carolina
Coach against coach
| Years | Clemson | Series | North Carolina |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959–1966 | Frank Howard | 6–2 | James Hickey |
| 1967–1969 | Frank Howard | 2–1 | Bill Dooley |
| 1970–1972 | Cecil Ingram | 0–3 | Bill Dooley |
| 1973–1976 | Red Parker | 3–1 | Bill Dooley |
| 1979–1987 | Danny Ford | 7–2 | Dick Crum |
| 1990–1993 | Ken Hatfield | 3–1 | Mack Brown |
| 1994–1997 | Tommy West | 2–2 | Mack Brown |
| 2001–2006 | Tommy Bowden | 3–1 | John Bunting |
| 2019–2023 | Dabo Swinney | 3–0 | Mack Brown |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Clemson’s side (Howard 6–2 against Hickey). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.
Both programs through the years
Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.
Stars of the series
Biggest days
| Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Clemson | 9 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 for loss | 2022 Defense |
Named most valuable
| Cade Klubnik Clemson | 2022 |
| Deshaun Watson Clemson | 2015 |
Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on). Most valuable: as the games’ Wikipedia articles name them (CC BY-SA).
From the newspapers
1907 · The semi-weekly messenger, Wilmington, N.C., Nov 5, 1907
1915 · Richmond times-dispatch. (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, Virginia, Nov 7, 1915
Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.
On television
| 2025 | ESPN | 1.9 million viewers |
| 2026 | ESPN | 3.6 million viewers |
Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.
Every game
Every game is listed as played on the field.