CLEMSON, S.C. — For the first time since 2013, it will be a battle of Top 25 teams when the Gamecocks and Tigers square off today in Clemson.
The Tigers are ranked 12th in the latest College Football Playoff Ranking, while the Gamecocks are 15th.
Both teams feel a win would make them playoff-worthy, and their case could be helped by another chaotic weekend of college football where teams above them in the rankings fall.
Georgia Tech almost did the two programs a major solid Friday night, but the Yellow Jackets fell to #7 Georgia 44-42 in eight overtimes.
The 2013 meeting in Columbia between the Garnet and Orange was also the game where the Tigers committed six turnovers, which prompted the famous Sunday phone call from Spurrier to Dabo Swinney.
The Clemson head coach recalls that call, saying Spurrier quipped, "I don't know why ya'll turn the ball over so much."
But it is safe to say whoever wins the turnover margin in today's game will enhance their chances of earning bragging rights. The Tigers have won eight of the last nine meetings, but the Gamecocks won the last contest held in the Upstate.
That was in 2022, and like that year, 2024 will feature a noon kickoff.