As a result of the new nine-game ACC football schedule, the Clemson Tigers have canceled future football games against Oklahoma State and Ole Miss.
Clemson was slated to host Ole Miss on Oct. 3, 2015 and travel to face the Rebels on Sept. 10, 2016. The Tigers were also tentatively scheduled to play a home-and-home series against Oklahoma State in 2019 and 2020.
“We didn’t want to get out of that series,” Clemson athletics director Terry Don Phillips told OrangeandWhite.com. “It’s a good series. We did save the Georgia series (in 2013-14), and that was extremely important. But given the realities of other universities at our level, we need to play seven home games.”
“A home-and-home situation, we just can’t do it. I hate it. I’d like to keep the series. But reality demands in the long term that we keep seven home games every year, with the Georgia series being the exception.”
With Syracuse now set to join the ACC in 2013 and Pittsburgh likely as well, the ACC will begin a nine-game conference schedule. That means each team will only have four home conference games every other year. In those years, teams such as Clemson will want to have three non-conference home games to bring in revenue.
That means less home-and-home series and more one-game contracts against schools such as South Carolina State and Wofford. It’s not the ideal situation for fans who want to see big-time non-conference games. But most schools want that seventh home game if they can get it.
Clemson will likely have to cancel a non-conference game in 2013 and 2014 as well. The Tigers currently have four games scheduled for each of those seasons. Since Georgia and South Carolina are both safe, either Kent State or The Citadel will be nixed in 2013 and either Central Michigan or Coastal Carolina in 2014.
Here is a look at Clemson’s future non-conference schedules after the cancellation of both Oklahoma State and Ole Miss:
- 2013 – Georgia, Kent State, The Citadel, at South Carolina
- 2014 – at Georgia, Coastal Carolina, Central Michigan, South Carolina
- 2015 – Wofford, at South Carolina
- 2016 – South Carolina State, South Carolina
I really don’t like this 9-game ACC conference schedule.
I don’t either. A lot of people like it, but it puts schedules out of balance with 5 home/4 away one year then 4 home/5 away the next.
Makes it difficult for the big programs to schedule home-and-home’s with other schools because they want/need seven home games to support their athletic department.
But then there is the argument that a conference game is better than a cupcake game.
I understand that, but what I’d rather see is an ACC-SEC deal in which each ACC team is matched up against an SEC team.
This year, five ACC teams are already playing against SEC teams (the traditional three plus Wake-Vandy and NCSU-Tennessee). Just make it all 14 and it’ll be a quality out-of-conference game for everyone, and each school will have four home & four away for the conference schedule. Even the worst ACC or SEC team is better than a FCS team.
Chip,
Clemson is also playing Auburn
Auburn vs. Syracuse would be great too me
N.C. State should schedule a Ga. or Aub. too. I agree, I don’t like the 9 conference games. I assume it is necessitated by adding two additional teams to the conference but the SEC was able to keep the 8 conference games. One issue is the N.C. schools wanting to play each other each year. I’m for that but not the 9 conference games. Got to be a better way.
would love to see NC State on AU’s schedule
yeah right because Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Maryland make the schedule so damn tough
BAMMER UNC, Wake and Maryland are not bad over the last 6 or 7 years
Your Tide played Duke twice in the past few season so what are you saying
Its not like Ole Miss, Kentucky or Tennessee are any better…
This is about Clemson wanting 3 cupcake games, not about a need for 7 home games. They are simply using the need for 7 home games as a convenient excuse. All ACC teams know what years they will have a 5/4 schedule and which years they will have a 4/5(it will be even/odd depending on which division they are in).
All they have to do is schedule an OOC home and home where their home game lands on the 4/5 ACC schedule with the return date on the 5/4 ACC schedule.
Bama canceled a home and home series w Wisconsin bc of the same reason. So I guess Bama is scared to and want cupcake games? SEC already plays cupcakes before their rival games which is cowardly…
PNB and Kenief, here is a list of the OOC teams Alabama has played over the last few years and will play this year and next: Clemson, Virginia Tech, Michigan, Penn State twice, and West Virginia. Those are on top of playing LSU, Arkansas, and Auburn every year, plus Florida, South Carolina, and UGA in some years.
A nine game round robin like the Big 12 plays is a dogfight but clearly shows the relative strength of every conference member. Compare this to a two division conference where the non-division conference competition is not equal but still counts to decide a division champ and you get a real bad taste in your mouth about divisions. The story about revenue and home games is a smoke screen because the two year cycle has the same average income. It looks like money makes agreements worthless to me. Why would the world end if non-division conference games only counted for series pride and media ranking opinions, etc..
Who is “the truth”??
Ole Miss on its way to the BCS…
Program on the rise ; always a tough game
ACC??????
Clemson simply DON’T want to play rebels next few years