Noon Games are for the Birds

By: Roy Philpott

In what is usually the slowest time of the year for schools not playing in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, the ACC provided some news Tuesday by announcing the start times for each of Clemson's first three football games:

Clemson vs. Alabama - The Georgia Dome - Aug. 30 - 8:00 PM (ABC)

Clemson vs. The Citadel - Death Valley - Sept. 6 - 3:30 PM (ESPN 360)

Clemson vs. N.C. State - Death Valley - Sept. 13 - Noon (Raycom)

The Alabama game, as expected, will kickoff at 8 PM in the Georgia Dome in front of a national television audience on ABC.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Somewhat surprisingly, The Citadel game won't be at noon or 1 o'clock but rather at 3:30 and it will be televised on ESPN's 415th channel- ESPN 360.

Again- sounds pretty good. The Citadel would usually be a team that generally wouldn't warrant television consideration and would kick around 1 o'clock.

But then there's game No. 3- against N.C. State.

The Tigers and Wolfpack will do battle in Death Valley on Sept. 13, 2008 shortly after 12 noon.

That's September, a summer month where temperatures usually reach 90-plus degrees on any given day.

That's noon, meaning the game will be played during the hottest time of the day.

That's noon, meaning someone who has to drive two hours or more from another part of South Carolina or surrounding states, who also wants to tailgate for an hour or two, is likely waking up at 6 AM to pile into the car to try and make it on time.

Simply put, noon games in September are wrong on so many levels.

Believe me, I understand that Raycom has some massive contract with the ACC and has to televise at least one game for each school every season and noon is probably the only time slot it can get in today's sports-crazed-televised world.

But as much as I love college football, and Clemson football, I absolutely despise noon games.

It's too hot- the average temperature for Sept. 13 is 84 degrees, but I promise it won't be that "cool" this year. In fact, the hottest temperature on record for Sept. 13 is actually 95 degrees, which is about how hot it feels like every September throughout most of the Palmetto state anyway.

If you have any children, relatives or friends who are sensitive to the heat, then you know this can be an issue after sitting directly in the sun at Death Valley for three and a half hours.

It's too early- if you are driving from anywhere outside of the upstate- your Clemson "experience" before the game is limited to a biscuit, a drink and whatever you can afford to buy in the stadium.

It hurts the atmosphere- the later in the day any game is played in Death Valley, and this goes for most stadiums for that matter, the better the atmosphere. Perhaps it's as simple as more fans have more time to "get prepared" or they are just more awake because they didn't wake up at 6 AM to get there. Whatever argument you want to use holds water with me. The later the time, the better the atmosphere.

I'm not asking for 12 night games on Clemson's schedule because I know that's just not feasible.

I'm not even asking for all the home games to be played at night or after 6 PM- but I would like to see a move away from the early early start times at home, especially in the month of September.

Were you there for the 2003 Georgia game played in Death Valley?

Do you remember how INSANELY HOT it was that day? Me personally, I think I'm still recovering from the sunburn I suffered that afternoon.

3:30 or later gets my vote each and every time. The game doesn't get over too late and it doesn't start too early. Noon games are brutally hot throughout while the temperatures start cooling down right around halftime for 3:30 kicks and the crowd is into it from the very beginning.

Noon- well that's a different story- one that's for the birds if you ask me.

Another Preseason Top 10

By: Roy Philpott

Athlon is in the process of releasing its top 10 teams in the nation and not surprisingly, Clemson comes in at No. 10.

Some other intriguing items include:

WR Aaron Kelly is named Second-Team All-America and First-Team All-ACC.

QB Cullen Harper, RB James Davis, C Thomas Austin, DL Dorell Scott, S Michael Hamlin and KR C.J. Spiller are named First-Team All-ACC.

RB C.J. Spiller, CB Chris Chancellor, S Chris Clemons, K Mark Buchholz and PR Jacoby Ford are named Second-Team All-ACC.

DL Ricky Sapp joins the All-ACC Third Team.

For more information, go here: link

It's also interesting to note that just two other teams from ACC are ranked in the top 25 released so far- Virginia Tech at No. 21 and Wake Forest at No. 24.

Ranking the 2008 Schedule

By: Roy Philpott

1) AT FLORIDA STATE
Whether you believe Florida State will be vastly improved or not in 2008, Doak Campbell Stadium is still a difficult place to play for most teams. Clemson has won there exactly once since 1989.

2) AT WAKE FOREST
Groves Stadium, while seating just 31,500 has been a house of horrors for a lot of teams in recent years. The Tigers lost there in 2003 and 2005 before finally winning in 2006 after a miracle play made by the future No. 4 overall pick in the NFL Draft in Gaines Adams. What will it take for you to start to believe in Jim Grobe?

3) ALABAMA
Opening the season with Crimson Tide is intriguing, but will it be as tough as road games at FSU and Wake Forest? Probably not. Nick Saban has recruited well in Tuscaloosa, but he's still playing mostly with Mike Shula's players. Come on, does John Parker Wilson really scare you?

4) AT BOSTON COLLEGE
Simply put, Clemson hasn't beaten Boston College since the Eagles joined the league in 2005. Yes Matt Ryan is gone. Yes Andre Callendar, L.V. Whitworth, Kevin Challenger, DeJuan Tribble and Jamie Silva are gone, but this team still is physical AND BIG at the line of scrimmage. Until it happens, winning in "Chestnut Hill" isn't as easy as it sounds.

5) AT VIRGINIA
The last time the Tigers ventured into Charlottesville, they left with a 30-10 defeat. Good thing that was four years ago. The Cavs could be tough in 2008, but chances are they'll be the "white meat" Clemson fans will remember from the 1970s and 80s more than anything else come November.

6) SOUTH CAROLINA
Hey- it's a rivalry game and the Gamecocks figure to be above Georgia Tech in our list after it takes Paul Johnson a year to install his spread-option scheme. Two words- chicken curse.

7) GEORGIA TECH
Clemson generally waxes Georgia Tech one year and loses to the Yellow Jackets the next. This is one of the "good years."

8) N.C. STATE
The Pack could get back to bowl eligibility this year- problem is they'll likely be headed to San Francisco as one of the last teams from the league to make it to the postseason. Make that five in a row for the Tigers in the "Textile Bowl."

9) MARYLAND
Did you know Ralph Friedgen actually hired an offensive coordinator for the 2008 season? Maybe those first three years in College Park really did have some luck involved ... or something. How did he win all of those games anyway?

10) DUKE
Poor Ted Roof. At least he has a chance to rebuild his career now in Minnesota. Now David Cutcliffe gets to see what it's like to share a football stadium with a medical center. (visit the press box next time you're in Durham for more info)

11) THE CITADEL
The Bulldogs actually were tied with No. 7 Wisconsin on the road last year at halftime. Not bad. Keep an eye on WR Andre Roberts come September.

12) S.C. STATE
No disrespect to head coach Buddy Pough, because he's built a team that has a good number of FBS prospects on it, but somebody had to be last on our list. Losing QB Cleveland McCoy gives The Citadel the slight edge.

Another Reason to be Excited

By: Roy Philpott

As if Clemson fans needed another reason to be excited about the start of the 2008 season ...

Aside from the Tigers being listed by nearly every preseason publication as the favorite to win the ACC, how about ESPN's College Game Day being on the scene for the Aug. 30 battle with Alabama in the Georgia Dome?

According to Tony Barnhart of the AJC, the announcement may be nothing short of a formality at this point. You can read the full article by clicking this link.

"The folks at ESPN like to keep their options open and insist no decision has been made. But I’m hearing that the College Game Day boys are coming to Atlanta on Aug. 30 as part of the run-up to the Clemson-Alabama game at the Georgia Dome," Barnhart writes.

Clemson fans will remember the last time Gameday visited the Tigers was one of the best performances turned in by a Tommy Bowden-coached team ... well ever. The 31-7 waxing of 13th-ranked Georgia Tech back Oct. 2006 is a game still talked about to this very day.

You remember it don't you? The introduction of Thunder and Lightning, the all-purple jerseys, the electricity, the excitement and the playstation-like moves of C.J. Spiller.

Of course, having Game Day on hand will only make it harded to get a ticket to what's already being called "the hardest ticket to get in the history of the Georgia Dome."

Think about it for a second ... 80,000 Clemson fans and 90,000 Alabama fans all trying to get a seat in the 70,000 seat Georgia Dome.

Because it's a season opener and expectations are still so high as neither team has yet to lose a game, you could make the argument this game could be played in a 175,000 seat stadium and it would still sell out.

But, having Game Day on hand is never a bad thing ... at minimum it's a massive opportunity for publicity and given the game is being played during the first weekend of the college football season, multiply the usual pub by about 20 considering "Clemson" and "Alabama" will be mentioned every day the entire month of August on ESPN.

And speaking of C.J. Spiller, here is one of my favorite series of pictures of him at Clemson right below. I just happened to be in the end zone in front of him as he juked a Georgia Tech defender and scampered down the sideline for the easy score in that 24-point win over the Jackets two years ago.

At this point, Jacoby Ford is thinking about what's going on after the game because the game itself was OVER.

Dealing with Expectations

By: Roy Philpott

Every year about this time, as the upcoming season preview magazines start to hit the magazine shelves, fans start pondering legitimate expectations for their respective teams.

It's always interesting to see how one magazine views a team differently than another.

Truthfully, you are going to get 100 times the information on Clemson on a web site like CUTigers.com or through a newspaper that covers the beat simply because we know what is going on at Clemson more than any national media outlet ever could.

We are there, on campus, probably 300 days of the year.

However, the preview magazines are a great way to get a feel for what the rest of the ACC has been up to during the offseason and to gauge how good (or bad) certain teams could be in the coming year.

But for the Clemson football team, things are going to be a little different over the course of the next few months than what we've seen in years past.

Why?

Because this year, the Tigers are going to be the favorite to win the league. No more Matt Ryan. Florida State and Miami are still rebuilding. Virginia Tech lost most of its defense, not to mention its top receiver, running back and cornerback.

Tommy Bowden told us last week in an interview for our upcoming 2008 preview issue of CUTigers The Magazine, he wouldn't be treating anything different even though his team will be picked to win the ACC.

"I’ve been coaching long enough to know that those (predictions) are really not that important because injuries you don’t know about or getting an unlucky break or team moral," he said. "You just don’t know how your team is going to handle certain situations. How are they going to react to a loss? Those are things you don’t know.

“I don’t look at it any differently that what I have over my last 31 years (of coaching). We’re really not going to prepare any differently. But we are going to talk to them a little differently because they’re going to read things that are different about this team than they’ve read in the past because of the expectations."

Typically speaking, the Tigers have played better under Bowden with their back against the wall and not as the favorite. In fact, Bowden and his team haven't lost a game as a lined underdog since Oct. 2005 against Georgia Tech.

But how will they respond being named the favorite to win the Atlantic Division and the league?

A handful of national level publications have already listed Clemson as the favorite to win the ACC, including reporters on CollegeFootballNews.com and ESPN.com. And that's just the beginning.

Strangely enough, this team is already used to playing the favorite role in individual games. Check out a listing of the lined games Clemson has played in during the last two years:

2007:
Auburn - Clemson by 2.5
South Carolina - Clemson by 3
Boston College - Clemson favored by 8.5
Wake Forest - Clemson favored by 8.5
Duke - Clemson favored by 17.5
Maryland - Clemson favored by 3.5
Central Michigan - Clemson favored by 17
Virginia Tech - Clemson favored by 5.5
Georgia Tech - Clemson favored by 3
N.C. State - Clemson favored by 8
Furman - no line
Louisiana-Monroe - Clemson favored by 27
Florida State - 'Noles favored by 3

2006
Kentucky - Clemson favored by 9
South Carolina - Clemson favored by 5.5
N.C. State - Clemson favored by 17
Maryland - Clemson favored by 11
Virginia Tech - Clemson by 4.5
Georgia Tech - Clemson favored by 8
Temple - Clemson favored by 43.5
Wake Forest - Clemson favored by 16.5
Louisiana Tech - Clemson favored by 33.5
Florida State - Florida State by 4
Boston College - Clemson favored by 2.5
Florida Atlantic - Clemson favored by 33.5

Notice a trend? If you're name isn't Florida State, you're going to be an underdog against the Tigers.

But how will they respond being named the favorite to win the league at the ACC's Annual Preseason Media Kickoff? Does it increase the pressure? Is it a motivating factor? Is it meaningless?

You tell me.