Clemson

Of the seven original members of the ACC that are still in the ACC, Clemson has the best football tradition and the most rabid football fans. In 1981, Clemson won the only national championship won by any of those teams since Maryland took the title in 1953. Since then, Clemson has tended to bounce around in the 6-5 to 9-2 range, beating up on lesser teams and almost always losing to great teams. This year has been pretty typical. The Tigers are 6-5 with wins over North Texas, Presbyterian, Maryland, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest. On the other hand, they lost to Auburn, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, Boston College, and Florida State. But now they have a chance to redeem their year by taking the UCFC from their in-state rivals.

Clemson has only played for the UCFC 11 times, and they have a record of 4-7 in those games. They won the title during the chaotic season of 1974 by beating Duke, but lost it the very next week to Tennessee. They also won the title by beating Penn State in the Citrus Bowl on January 1, 1988, and kept it for two more weeks before losing it to Florida State. They haven't had it since.

The Clemson/South Carolina game has never been a UCFC game.