Clemson football will head to New England to face the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium Saturday night.
The matchup will mark the first head-to-head meeting as head coaches between Dabo Swinney and Bill O’Brien, who is in his second season in the ACC at Boston College.
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Clemson (2-3 overall, 1-2 ACC) eviscerated North Carolina and another former NFL coach, Bill Belichick, last Saturday for their first win in conference play and will look to make it two straight against an Eagles (1-4, 0-3) team that has dropped four consecutive games.
Swinney, for one, says he isn’t buying the 1-4 mark next to Boston College’s name in the standings.
“This is far from a 1-4 football team,” Clemson’s coach said on Tuesday. “You say it, but they’re four plays away from being 4-1, without a doubt. They’re very well-coached, and I know they are battling through some disappointment because they’ve had some heartbreakers.”
Clemson hasn’t lost to Boston College since October 2010, having won 12 straight in the head-to-head series against the Eagles. Similar to last week’s game against North Carolina, the Tigers are heavy favorites against Boston College according to sportsbooks, as well as ESPN Analytics’ projections.
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ESPN’s matchup predictor, which offers a prediction model based on its college football power index ratings and other variables, gives Clemson a 75.1% chance to win and Boston College a 24.9% chance.
Clemson rose five spots in the FPI ratings to No. 40 after its blowout win over UNC; Boston College is No. 82. The Tigers’ overall FPI rating rose from 5.6 to 7.7. In the overall ratings, they’re one spot behind conference mate SMU, which Clemson will face next week in Memorial Stadium.
Boston College has a negative overall rating of minus-3.9 and is given only a 1% percent chance of reaching six wins to quality for a bowl game.
Kickoff for Clemson vs. Boston College is at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The game will be televised on ACC Network.
ACC football teams, ranked by ESPN FPI
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T-14. Boston College Eagles (-3.9 FPI)
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13. California Golden Bears (-3.6 FPI)
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12. Syracuse Orange (-1.1 FPI)
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11. Virginia Tech Hokies (-0.3 FPI)
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6. SMU Mustangs (7.8 FPI)
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5. Louisville Cardinals (8.3 FPI)
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4. Virginia Cavaliers (8.7 FPI)
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1. Miami Hurricanes (19.1 FPI)
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What are ESPN FPI ratings?
“The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team’s performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily. FPI data from seasons prior to 2019 may not be complete.”
Clemson football schedule 2025
All start times Eastern.
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Aug. 30: vs. LSU (L, 17-10)
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Sept. 6: vs. Troy (W, 27-16)
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Sept. 13: at Georgia Tech (L, 24-21)
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Sept. 20: vs. Syracuse (L, 34-21)
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Oct. 4: at North Carolina (W, 38-10)
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Oct. 11: at Boston College, 7:30 p.m., ACC Network
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Oct. 18: vs. SMU, 3:30 p.m., ACC Network
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Nov. 8: vs. Florida State, TBD
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Nov. 14: at Louisville, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
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Nov. 29: at South Carolina, noon, ABC or ESPN
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football odds of beating Boston College in Week 7, per ESPN
