By Ed McGranahan.
By Ed McGranahan
One of the advantages of Atlantic Coast Conference membership is the journey to a BCS bowl. Think of it as a ride to Myrtle Beach.
Most of the time you skim along the Interstate; the scenery isn’t special, but you’re interested in eating miles in the shortest amount of time without the encumbrances of stoplights and small town speed traps.
Somewhere beyond Florence it becomes a bit more tedious. If there are little kids in the car, you might make a pit stop before Marion. As you pump gas, you begin thinking about that first whiff of sea air. It’s intoxicating. Even the kids aren’t a distraction, especially when you pop in a CD mix of beach favorites.
Traffic slows to a crawl in spots and you try to remember “shortcuts” to the next stretch of four-lane until you hit the Conway Bypass. Now, you’re in fast for the sprint to the sand. You can feel the sun on your face as you imagine the cold can in your hand.
Are we there yet?
“I want to be a team that when it’s all said and done, we’re in the mix,” Dabo Swinney said. “We need to be a ranked football team. We need to be one of those top 15, 20 teams in the country year in and year out.”
A few weeks ago he would hardly discuss it. This week he was more pointed in his response to the same questions. Playing in the ACC seems to be an albatross, particularly when the computers spit out their rankings. Yet, as the list of undefeated teams dwindles and the traffic thins, Clemson has made up most of the ground it lost with the left rear tire went flat in Tallahassee.
Back on the road again, Clemson is a two-touchdown favorite at Duke; should be again at home against Maryland and N.C. State. Ranked nine in one poll, 10 in the other and 13th overall in the BCS, Clemson should be a fully vested member of the top 10 by Thanksgiving week, setting up an historic sprint to the finish with South Carolina.
Virginia Tech could clear a barricade by beating Florida State, but I doubt Clemson really wants to see the Hokies again this soon and a stop in Charlotte may be unnecessary. The computers would smile favorably on a win over the Gamecocks and thrust a one-loss Clemson team into the BCS bowl conversation.
That’s what Swinney figures anyway. He’s betting the kids won’t become car sick like last season then frying in the sun after they hit the sand.
“We just line up and play who we play,” Swinney said. “When it’s all said and done, we’ll be where we need to be. That’s all I know.
“We’re pretty high right now with a loss, so I think we’re about where we should be to be honest with you,” he said. “If we can finish strong we’ll have every opportunity that’s out there, and a chance to have a real special season.”
Might not be a trip to the beach, but it could be fun.