Clemson v. Auburn

Up until 1971, these two teams played 44 games against each other. One of those games was a UCFC battle -- on November 28, 1942, Auburn defended its title at home with a 41-13 victory over Clemson. Since 1971, they have met only three times. On January 2, 1998, Auburn beat Clemson 21-17 in the Peach Bowl. On December 31, 2007, the two Tigers again met in the Peach Bowl (I refuse to call it the Chick-Fil-A Bowl), and Auburn won 23-20 in overtime.

Last year the two Tigers met in Auburn for a regular-season matchup. This game was a real cracker. Clemson jumped out to a 17-0 lead, which Auburn trimmed to 17-3 by the half. In the third quarter, Auburn roared back to pull ahead by 24-17 -- but in the fourth quarter, Clemson tied the score at 24. The game went to overtime, and Auburn won it 27-24. Auburn went on to win the national title. Clemson sputtered to a record of 6-7.

Auburn leads the all-time series 34-11-2, and they haven't lost to Clemson since 1951, but I expect this game to be very close. Auburn doesn't have much of a defense, this is their first road game of the year, and Clemson is usually tough at home. In fact, Clemson is favored by 3 1/2 points, making this the second straight week that Auburn has been an underdog.

By the way, this game is very important to the future of the UCFC. If Clemson wins, they will certainly lose the title to Florida State next week, and the Noles will keep the title at least until the end of the year when they play Florida. On the other hand, if Auburn wins, the title will probably stay in the SEC for the rest of the year.