What bowl game is Clemson football going to? Latest updates, projections for Tigers

Clemson football will learn its bowl game destination Sunday. The Tigers are set to play in their 19th consecutive bowl after finishing the 2023 regular season with an 8-4 record.

Clemson is widely projected to play in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. The Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte and the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, have also come up. 247Sports reported Monday that Clemson would express to the ACC and ESPN its desire to play in either the Holiday or Gator Bowls.

The Holiday Bowl would pit the Tigers against a Pac-12 opponent, while the Gator Bowl or Duke's Mayo Bowl would likely be an SEC matchup.

Here are the latest bowl announcement updates, with the most recent first.

Official: Clemson football to face Kentucky in Gator Bowl

It will be the Gator Bowl for Clemson. The Tigers will travel to EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, to play Kentucky on Dec. 29 (noon ET). Clemson (8-4) and Kentucky (7-3) will play for the first time since 2009.

ACC bowls still in 'holding pattern' | Reports

According to multiple outlets, many ACC bowls and teams have yet to be determined. The teams whose bowl destinations have not yet been reported are Notre Dame (which is eligible for the ACC's bowl tie-ins), NC State, Louisville, Clemson, North Carolina, Miami and Virginia Tech. Bowls whose ACC teams have note yet been reported are the Pop-Tarts, Gator, Holiday, Duke's Mayo, Pinstripe, Sun and Military bowls.

Report: Clemson or Louisville will face USC in Holiday Bowl

As the ACC's bowl affiliates continue to settle on their teams, 247Sports' Brad Crawford reported that either Clemson or Louisville will play Southern Cal in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27. It's still unclear where Clemson would land if Louisville went to San Diego, but the Gator or Duke's Mayo Bowls remain in play.

Kentucky to play in Gator Bowl, Oregon State in Sun Bowl, Southern Cal in Holiday Bowl, West Virginia in Duke's Mayo Bowl

Kentucky will officially represent the SEC in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. Southern Cal will reportedly be the Pac-12 half of the Holiday Bowl and Oregon State will reportedly represent the Pac-12 in the Sun Bowl, according to Action Network. West Virginia will play in the Duke's Mayo Bowl instead of an SEC team, according to multiple reports. The SEC has one too few bowl eligible teams for its bowl affiliates and the Big 12 has one too many, so a deal was reportedly made to send the Mountaineers to Charlotte.

The ACC halves of those games have yet to be reported or announced.

The Gator, Holiday and Mayo bowls are still in play for Clemson and were common projections for the Tigers. 247Sports and Action Network projected the Tigers to face the Wildcats in the Gator Bowl headed into selection day. There are still several ACC teams awaiting their bowl bids and announcements to be made.

Clemson reportedly wants Holiday Bowl bid

Clemson, NC State and UNC are still awaiting bowl announcements. According to 247Sports' Brad Crawford, the Tigers want to play in the Holiday Bowl, while the Wolfpack and Tar Heels both want a bid to the Gator Bowl.

Further complicating the bowl matchups is that the SEC has one fewer bowl eligible team than it has bowl tie-ins. That might delay announcements for bowls with SEC tie-ins, such as the Gator and Duke's Mayo Bowls.

Some other ACC bowls have been reported or announced, but NC State, Louisville, Clemson, North Carolina, Miami and Virginia Tech are still awaiting their bowl destinations.

ACC reportedly struggling to settle on bowl matchups

Florida State being left out of the playoff came as a shock to many, apparently including bowl officials. In the wake of the New Year's Six announcements in the afternoon, multiple outlets reported the ACC bowl bids being held up due to the chaos FSU's exclusion created.

After the New Year's Six announcements, bowl matchups start being announced or reported almost immediately. But ACC bowl tie-ins were noticeably slow to start coming out Sunday afternoon. In some cases, like the Fenway Bowl and the Military Bowl, the non-ACC half of the matchup was reported, but the ACC opponent remained elusive.

Clemson at No. 22 in final College Football Playoff rankings

Clemson checked in at No. 22 in the College Football Playoff's final rankings. The Tigers are the fourth ACC team in the rankings behind No. 5 Florida State, No. 15 Louisville and No. 18 NC State.

Florida State left out of College Football Playoff; Bowl implications for ACC

Unbeaten ACC champion Florida State came in at No. 5 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, leaving them out of the semifinal field. That has big implications for the bowl placements of the rest of the ACC. The Seminoles will play Georgia in the Orange Bowl, which bumps the rest of the league's bowl eligible teams down slightly.

Louisville, as ACC runner-up, will likely play in the Pop Tarts Bowl (formerly the Cheez-It Bowl). NC State has the league's next-best record at 9-3, but bowls outside the New Year's Six weigh more than just record when selecting teams.

Sunday morning bowl projections that predicted Florida State getting left out of the playoff had Clemson staying fairly close to home for its bowl game: The Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte. The Holiday Bowl is still certainly in play.

Duke's Mayo Bowl a possibility for Clemson

Before Saturday's conference championship games, Clemson was widely projected to face Southern Cal in the Holiday Bowl. A few Gator Bowl projections cropped up, too. But Sunday morning, Action Network's Brett McMurphy and 247Sports' Brad Crawford updated their projections to pit Clemson against Kentucky in the Duke's Mayo Bowl.

Both prognosticators are basing their bowl projections around a College Football Playoff field that does not include ACC Champion Florida State. If the selection committee leaves out the unbeaten Seminoles, they would automatically play in the Orange Bowl and bump the rest of the league's teams down a peg. If Florida State is in the playoff, Louisville would go to the Orange Bowl, lifting the rest of the ACC's eligible teams up slightly.

What bowl game is Clemson going to? Updated projections entering Sunday

• ESPN staff: Holiday Bowl vs. Southern Cal

• Action Network's Brett McMurphy: Duke's Mayo Bowl vs. Kentucky

• CBS' Jerry Palm: Holiday Bowl vs. Southern Cal

• The Athletic Staff: Holiday Bowl vs. Southern Cal

• 247Sports' Brad Crawford: Duke's Mayo Bowl vs. Kentucky

• USA TODAY's Erick Smith: Holiday Bowl vs. Utah

• The Sporting News' Bill Bender: Gator Bowl vs. Texas A&M

When are college football bowl games announced?

The College Football Playoff field will be announced at noon ET Sunday on ESPN. After the playoff games are set, announcements for the rest of the bowl games will come in throughout the afternoon.

Clemson football schedule 2023

• Week 1 at Duke (L, 28-7)

• Week 2 vs. Charleston Southern (W, 66-17)

• Week 3 vs. Florida Atlantic (W, 48-14)

• Week 4 vs. Florida State (L, 31-24)

• Week 5 at Syracuse (W, 31-14)

• Week 6 vs. Wake Forest (W, 17-12)

• Week 8 at Miami (L, 28-20)

• Week 9 at NC State (L, 24-17)

• Week 10 vs. Notre Dame (W, 31-23)

• Week 11 vs. Georgia Tech (W, 42-21)

• Week 12 vs. UNC (W, 31-20)

• Week 13 at South Carolina (W, 16-7)

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson bowl projections: Latest updates for Tigers’ opponent