The Nightmare Scenario

Oct 14th 2009 - Written by: John Webb

I love focusing on the negative, so I was especially pleased when a friend called this week to explain a nightmare scenario that has tortured me all week.

Clemson is now 2-3 with a 1-2 record in the ACC. The loss to Georgia Tech came out of the Atlantic Division. Clemson holds the tiebreaker over Boston College, while Maryland holds the tiebreaker over Clemson. What if the season were to unfold this way:

Middle Tennessee State (Win)
Georgia Tech (Loss)
Boston College (Win)
TCU (Loss)
Maryland (Loss)
Wake Forest (Win)
Miami (Loss)
Coastal Carolina (Win)
Florida State (Win)
NC State (Win)
Virginia (Loss)
“The” USC (Loss)

That would leave Clemson with a 6-6 record overall and 4-4 in the ACC. We would hold the tiebreaker over every other Atlantic Division team with the exception of Maryland, which means that the Clemson Tigers could be your ACC Atlantic Division Champion. This is particularly within the realm of possibility because no Atlantic team has beaten a Coastal team this year, and no Atlantic team has won an ACC road game. But don’t chill the Zima just yet.

Clemson would have a .500 record, which raises the stakes in the ACC championship game. If Clemson wins, we will be heading to Miami in the new year to play in the Orange Bowl for the first time since 1982. If Clemson loses, we will have a losing record and will not be bowl eligible for the first time since the halcyon 1998 season, when Torry Holt torched Alex Ardley and company for four touchdowns in one game, and we kicked Tommy West to the curb – at least we had good weather, unlike this year.

But can Clemson really be ineligible for bowl selection by losing the ACC Championship Game? Say it ain’t so! Here is the relevant part of NCAA Bylaw 30.9.2.1 Exceptions:

During a season in which an institution competes in 13 regular season contests, the institution must establish a record of seven wins, six losses or better to qualify for bowl selection.

I have not found where the rules speak directly to this, but this clause leads me to believe that the ACC Championship Game would count towards the 13 regular season contests, because only bowl games are counted as non-regular season contests for FBS schools.

Can you imagine what a kick in the groin this nightmare scenario would be? The mountains would stop yawning their greatness. Dabo would use his house language. Spiller would transfer to Florida, even though he doesn’t have any eligibility left. It would take the zippity out of my doo da.

The nightmare scenario would create a need for a rule interpretation that no one ever anticipated. I think it’s fair to say that ACC Commissioner John Swofford didn’t have this in mind when the ACC expanded and added a championship game. I also don’t think he expected every wine-and-cheese-no-traveling-snooty-demeanor-lucky-team to become unexpectedly dominant (except for UNC.) Talk about being born on third and thinking you hit a triple. Clemson fans like me have flagellated ourselves for unknown sins since 1991; ACC Championship Games just fall out of the sky on other fan bases without prayer and supplication. Expect convulsive fits from Swofford if BC or Wake go back to the ACC Championship Game.

Switching gears, I feel the need to address the fight that Dabo had with Billy Napier last Wednesday. In his press conference Dabo downplayed the fight, and several top secret sources of mine have insisted that the fight was largely staged to motivate the team. Putting on our thinking caps, is it credible to believe that the head coach and offensive coordinator would stage a yelling match on the day that Tiger Band was invited to practice?

Premeditated or not, some think that a Wednesday fight might make a great Clemson tradition. Other Clemson traditions have humble origins. Running down the hill was the shortest way to the sidelines from the locker room in Fike Field House. Howard’s Rock was a doorstop. If we beat Wake, then the Wednesday Fight could be a lively weekly event, and if we don’t start winning more, then the Wednesday Fight could warrant more interest than what happens on Saturdays.

What’s that you say? I can’t chill the Zima because they don’t make Zima anymore? Not to worry, I’ve saved a case of Zima for the next ACC Championship. Unfortunately, I’ve had it for a very…very…very…very long time.

Please send fawning emails to sectionHrowJ@gmail.com .

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