Clemson Football: Tigers vs Seminoles best rivalry in the country?
Over the past five seasons, there has been no better rivalry in the country than the annual matchup between Clemson and Florida State.
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Clemson vs Florida State is not your traditional cross-town rivalry and it does not have the history that some of the other annual contests around the country do, however, it has formed into a must see game over the past decade.
Dating back to 2014, the margin of victory is razor thin in Clemson’s favor by a score of 77 to 70. During that time, the series record is 2-1 Clemson. The Tigers and Seminoles have been going back in forth since Dabo Swinney and Jimbo Fisher took over at their respective Universities.
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While Clemson vs Florida State is always a hard fought game, it’s implications go far beyond the ACC. The winner of the Clemson vs Florida State game has went on to reach the College Football Playoff each of the last three seasons and three out of the last four years the winner has gone on to play in the National Championship game.
At the moment, the most highly regarded rivalry is Ohio State vs Michigan and I understand that. The tradition behind that game surpasses that of any other rivalry, but, at the moment Clemson vs Florida State is much more competitive. It has been a long five years since Michigan has defeated Ohio State, which is far from competitive.
Just this past year, Clemson defeated the likes of Ohio State 31-0 in the Fiesta Bowl and Florida State defeated Michigan 33-32 in the Orange Bowl.
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Since 2013, Florida State and Clemson have a combined 49 draft picks, 10 of which came in the first round.
2017?
With the talent that both of these programs have entering 2017, it doesn’t appear that this rivalry is going anywhere any time soon. Florida State boasts a battle tested gun-slinger in Deondre Francois and Clemson has a defensive line chock-full of NFL talent.
I am willing to bet that the winner of next years Clemson vs Florida State game will make it to the College Football Playoff for a fourth straight season. What other rivalry has a track record remotely close to that?
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