Just a short 200+ days until the start of bowl season, and CBS Sports is already giving predictions for Clemsonfootball. They had the Tigers play in the Gator Bowl, facing the Oklahoma Sooners.
This matchup is especially intriguing for several reasons. First, you have a pair of perennial college football playoff teams facing off after failing to meet the program’s typical expectations. Second, you’d have one of the more overachieving teams in 2025 against one of the more disappointing teams of this past year.
Most importantly, this matchup would put Dabo against his former defensive coordinator, Brent Venables. Venables left Clemson to take a Head Coaching job at Oklahoma in 2022, where he’s alternated between 10-3 and 6-7 seasons for the last four years. He entered this year in the hot seat but has been able to regain trust through his first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Shane Beamer on Dabo Swinney’s FaceTime during a George Strait concert
📸 David Jensen, Getty Images https://t.co/neZhX4aFnWpic.twitter.com/5wdtag3NAp
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) May 7, 2026
Venables and Dabo won multiple national titles together, and it’ll be interesting to see how they fare against each other. If it were to happen, let’s hope it somehow comes in the playoffs.
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson predicted to play former coach during bowl season