Five potential replacements for South Carolina on the 2020 Clemson football schedule
Clemson football fans received bleak news Thursday afternoon when the SEC announced that it had voted to play a 10 game, conference-only schedule.
That news meant we wouldn’t see Clemson and South Carolina match-up on the gridiron, as well as several other in-state rivalries that take place between ACC and SEC.
Despite the news that the SEC would use a conference-only model, ACC Analyst Brett Friedlander reported that the conference is still moving forward with the idea of playing a ‘plus-one’ model this season and that leaves an opening on the 2020 Clemson football schedule.
Here are five potential routes the Tigers could go in replacing South Carolina.
5. In-state FCS school
Here’s the first and most obvious choice.
Keep in mind that the ACC’s non-conference rule states that the game must be played in the home state of the ACC team. That means that Clemson has to play this game at home or at least in the state of South Carolina.
That means we very well could see the Tigers add Furman, The Citadel, Presbyterian or someone else of that caliber in this spot. Keeping money in-state is something Dabo Swinney has always expressed desires in doing and that very well could be the case with this scheduling, as well.
4. Sun Belt Conference Opponent
The Sun Belt is still planning to play football at this point and several of its non-conference games have been canceled.
A team like Appalachian State, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, or Coastal Carolina (in-state opponent) would make a lot of sense if Clemson wanted to look at a Group of 5 opponent that is relatively close in proximity.
Georgia State already has some Clemson football ties on its coaching staff, which could help with the trust factor of playing a game and it would at least give the Tigers their 11th opponent.
3. USF
How about a bit of a Clemson football reunion?
Jeff Scott’s first season as the University of South Florida Head Coach is going to be a strange one, but wouldn’t it be fun to see him go up against his alma mater and a coaching staff that he was a part of for the first portion of his career?
Again, the trust factor is there in terms of protocols and testing and this would make for a nice little storyline for Tiger fans to enjoy.
2. Memphis
What about adding a top-25 team from The American to the schedule?
The Memphis Tigers enter the season as one of the top competitors in their conference, but they could be looking for games. (We would’ve put UCF in this spot, but the Knights already have an agreement UNC for a previously-scheduled game as of right now).
Memphis would be a fun match-up and would provide some fireworks for Clemson football fans as the Tigers look for challenges and hope to add strength to their schedule.
1. ACC-Big 12 Challenge
This certainly makes sense to me.
The Big 12 only has 10 member institutions, so the conference wouldn’t be able to give every single ACC team a non-conference game and it’s not likely that the Big 12 would want to really do the challenge considering that they’d have to agree to be the away team in every single game.
That being said, it’s still a dream worth exploring.
Clemson could add Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State or West Virginia to the schedule and instantly give themselves a bolster. Can you imagine the amount of press and spotlight that would be on a game between the Tigers and Texas or Oklahoma in Death Valley? It certainly would be fun.
It will be interesting to see how this 2020 Clemson football season plays out in the grand scheme of things, but these are some options for the Tigers as they look to add a non-conference match-up.