Clemson football needs to say ‘nah’ to Florida State and schedule South Carolina instead
The Clemson football team has an opening on the schedule on Dec. 12 and the expectation is that the Tigers will reschedule its postponed game with Florida State, but that hasn’t happened as of yet.
When the ACC announced that the two medical groups couldn’t mutually agree to play the game, the immediate thought was that Florida State and Clemson could schedule to play their game in three weeks during the conference’s open date- Dec. 12-to make up for the postponement. Still, there hasn’t been an official announcement or scheduling update.
That’s different from the other conference postponements that were immediately announced to be scheduled for December 12.
While that may be much to do about nothing, there is a feeling coming out of the Clemson football program that the Tigers may not be so inclined to reschedule the game- and for good reason.
Clemson football spent upwards of $300,000 to make the trip down to Tallahassee
There’s no reason to continue to hash out what could’ve been. Florida State was given the option to move the game back to Sunday or Monday- which would’ve allowed for up to three more rounds of testing- and the ‘Noles elected not to.
That tells me they don’t want to play and the last thing you’re going to want to do if you’re Clemson football is spend another $300,000 to travel down and play in Tallahassee three weeks from now when you’re still expecting to play in the ACC Championship game the week after.
I've been told the cost for a road trip... aircraft and buses and hotel and meals for over 100 people, is between $300,000 and $350,000. No wonder Clemson offered to stay
— David Hood (@MDavidHood) November 21, 2020
The solution? It’s time for Clemson football to start pushing for its annual rivalry game with South Carolina.
We brought up the fact that both the Tigers and Gamecocks had an opening on Dec. 12 earlier this week and the Pac-12 has opened up the door for other conferences to potentially change their initial protocols when it came to non-conference games.
Clemson was cleared by the ACC to play the game against FSU and the Seminoles didn’t want to, so wouldn’t it make sense for the Tigers to appeal to the conference to play their in-state rival as a way to save money through travel if the SEC would agree?
There are a ton of hoops to jump through and it still doesn’t seem to be all that probable, but it’s certainly something to keep your eye on.
There’s no way- if I’m Clemson- that I’m getting back on a plane and traveling to Tallahassee this season and bringing back the in-state rivalry would be a perfect way for both the ACC and SEC to bring in some revenue and keep the nation’s second-longest active streak alive in the process through a simple amendment.