CLEMSON — Thanks to Clemson’s 42-21 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday, the Tigers are once again going bowling.
But what does that exactly mean at Clemson?
Granted, there are some schools in the ACC or in the Palmetto State where playing football over the Holiday Season is a great accomplishment.
I ask again, what does it mean to Clemson?
Going to bowl games is something Clemson does with regularity. In all, the Tigers have played in 49 bowl games, tied for the 12th most in the history of college football. Their 26 bowl victories are tied for 10th all time.
Since 1977, Clemson has played in 42 bowl games. The 1982, ’83 and ’84 teams were all bowl eligible, but they could not participate in postseason play due to self-imposed, NCAA and ACC sanctions.
The Tigers did not qualify for bowl games in 1992, ’94 and ’98 and though the 2004 team was bowl eligible, it did not accept a bowl invitation as punishment for its involvement in the brawl with South Carolina in the regular season finale.
You do the math. That means in the last 46 years only seven Clemson teams have not played in a postseason bowl game.
Playing in a bowl game is what Clemson does.
Saturday’s win over the Yellow Jackets qualified Clemson for bowl participation for a 25th consecutive season. It is the third longest active streak in college football. The Tigers’ current streak of playing in 18 consecutive bowl games is the fifth longest active streak.
But just playing in a bowl game is not where Clemson wants to be.
Sure, when Clemson played in the 1977 Gator Bowl, that was a big deal. However, you have to understand, there were just 13 bowl games in 1977.
Was Clemson thrilled to play in the 2012 Orange Bowl Classic? Absolutely! The Tigers had not played in the Orange Bowl since clinching the 1981 National Championship in the 1982 Orange Bowl.
Do not get me wrong. After the way this season started for Clemson, playing in a bowl game is an accomplishment. However, it is not where this program wants to be.
Clemson got used to playing in the College Football Playoff and playing in national championship games. The Tigers earned a record six straight CFP appearances from 2015-’20. They won two national championships and played for it four times overall.
The standards at Clemson have changed, like they always have through its colorful history. When bowl games were rare and not just anyone could earn a bowl invitation, the Tigers reached that standard as much as anyone.
Jess Neely, the creator of IPTAY, took the Tigers to their first ever bowl game following the 1939 season. It was in the Cotton Bowl, one of college football’s oldest postseason games.
Frank Howard took Clemson to another level, leading the Tigers to prestigious bowl games such as the Orange and Sugar Bowls, while also playing in Gator Bowl as well.
When Danny Ford took over in the late 1970s, he took the program to heights it had never reached, winning a national championship in the Orange Bowl, while also playing in classic bowl games like the Gator and Citrus Bowls.
Now Dabo Swinney has come and has eclipsed Ford and everyone before him. He has taken the Clemson Football Program to another level, as described above.
So, what does playing in a bowl game mean to Clemson?
I mean, it is okay. However, it is not the standard anymore.
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