Rilvary importance!

Weekend clarifies Tigers’ path to bowls
Losses by Maryland, Wake Forest help Clemson’s chances for bid to Gator Bowl
By PAUL STRELOW
pstrelow@thestate.com

CLEMSON — The more the top of the ACC’s Atlantic Division was shaken up during the weekend, the quicker No. 24 Clemson rose in the bowl grab bag.

The Tigers’ postseason options remained the same as they were the week before.
But the scenarios by which they could wind up at a particular bowl were simplified.
With only its regular-season finale against non-conference rival USC remaining, Clemson (8-3, 5-3 ACC) remains likely to be chosen up by either the Chick-fil-A or Gator bowls, which own the first two choices of ACC teams that do not advance to the Bowl Championship Series.
It appears the only way the Tigers fall below the Gator Bowl is if Georgia Tech loses the ACC title game and the Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A Bowl passes on its hometown team.
“The biggest thing from the weekend is now we don’t know who’s playing in the championship game,” Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett said Sunday. “So we’re just going to have to wait and see.”

A first-year ACC rule prohibits bowls from selecting a team if another finishes with two fewer conference losses during the regular season.

Coastal Division champ Georgia Tech and Atlantic Division co-leaders Wake Forest and Maryland entered the weekend with one ACC loss. If the Atlantic Division champ reached the ACC title game with the single loss, the Chick-fil-A Bowl could not have chosen three-loss Clemson ahead of the title game loser.

But losses by Wake Forest and Maryland ensure that Georgia Tech will be the only ACC title game participant with one loss.

If the Yellow Jackets win the ACC championship Dec. 2 and advance to the BCS’ Orange Bowl, the Chick-fil-A Bowl would have Virginia Tech and Clemson among its pool of candidates, both of which have historically supportive fan bases.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl gets the fourth choice among the SEC’s non-BCS entries, and this weekend’s rivalry game between Georgia Tech and Georgia figures to have significant bearing on its eventual pick.

Bowl president Gary Stokan said a Georgia Tech win would help the Yellow Jackets’ case for Chick-fil-A selection if they went on to drop the ACC title game. Conversely, two Georgia Tech losses could lead the Chick-fil-A to look at a team with more momentum, i.e., Virginia Tech.
Using the same rationale, a Georgia win would make the home-state Bulldogs an attract draw. Coupled with a Georgia Tech victory in the ACC title game, the Chick-fil-A might be inclined to pick Clemson ahead of Virginia Tech to renew the border battle with Georgia.

“If Clemson loses to South Carolina this weekend, they’re probably not going to be in our selection process,” Stokan said.

If Georgia Tech does not drop below the Chick-fil-A, Clemson is all but a shoo-in for the Gator, which is believed to covet a match-up between the Tigers and either Oklahoma or West Virginia.

The catch is that if the Atlantic Division representative wins the ACC title and the Chick-fil-A takes Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech, the Gator cannot pick three-loss Clemson over the one-loss Yellow Jackets.

Should that happen, Clemson could fall to one of three tie-ins: the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., where they went last year; the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., against Navy; or the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn.