BCS Bowl Game Is An Opportunity On Field And In Stands
By Scott Rhymer
As the final ticks of the clock wound down in Charlotte last Saturday night, the oranges that somehow made it through security began pouring down onto Bank of America Stadium. It was a scene reminiscent of 1981 when oranges rained down on the astro-turf at Williams Brice Stadium in the waning seconds of Clemson’s 11th win of the season.
Sunday and Monday, oranges began showing up all over the Clemson campus. Bowman Field and statues around campus seemed to be the most vulnerable in terms of getting an orange placed on them and a picture posted on the Internet.
There seems, at least on the surface, a groundswell of optimism and pride about this football team. Nobody can question the demand and support the Clemson Nation gave to the ACC Championship game in Charlotte, as Tiger fans descended on Bank of America Stadium to the tune of 40,000 plus fans in the seats. That is a sharp contrast to that same stadium just 11 months earlier when only 41,000 total fans showed up to Bank of America Stadium to see Clemson and South Florida play in a meaningless bowl game.
Meaningless it may have been, but I believe Clemson Nation took a slight hit in perception when the empty seats of the bowl game last year were televised to the nation. And before you blame South Florida and their lack of ticket sales, don’t. If the nation sees Clemson playing in front of empty seats it is our reputation that takes the hit, not our opponent.
So we stand in a sputtering economy 761 miles away from a mid week BCS Bowl game and I openly wonder whether we are who we think we are? Or are we less than what we think we are?
The Discover Orange Bowl offers an opportunity for our football program that, in my opinion, cannot be measured in dollars and cents. From a national image viewpoint, this may be the most critical game of the 2011 season behind the ACC Title win last Saturday.
BCS Record
Let me state my case first by simply giving the honest, yet brutal, stats regarding ACC teams and wins and losses in BCS games. The most amazing fact that I can give you is this: If Clemson beats West Virginia on January 4th, our Tigers will be the only ACC Team with a winning record in BCS Bowl Games. Let me repeat…we have a chance to be the only ACC Team with a winning BCS Bowl record.
Florida State leads the ACC in terms of BCS Appearances, but the Seminoles are also a perfect example of ACC futility by winning only one BCS game against five losses. Virginia Tech, the team Clemson just beat to earn our first BCS Bowl berth, has only one win in four attempts in BCS games. Maryland, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech all lost their only BCS Bowl appearance. For those keeping score at home, the ACC is a putrid 2-11 in BCS Bowl Games. The only conferences that have earned worse BCS Bowl records are Conference USA, the MAC, and the Sun Belt.
By some measure, Clemson can garner the national respect so often craved by this program by stepping out of the fray of our fellow ACC programs by having success in the BCS in our first opportunity. It certainly would be significant from a perception standpoint to do what other ACC teams have failed miserably at doing…winning on the big stage.
Attendance
With the possible exception of Florida State, the Hokies of Virginia Tech are regarded as the most passionate ACC football fans other than Clemson. It would be easy to argue that the Hokies, Seminoles, and Tigers are the three programs that the nation thinks of when they think of ACC football.
But those same Virginia Tech fans that get so much love and attention for supporting their team struggled to sell tickets to the Orange Bowl last January. Virginia Tech and Stanford each were allotted 17,500 tickets to sell through their school box offices, but each school had problems selling that amount. Orange Bowl executives were counting on the Hokies to sell a load of tickets, even offering added flights by Delta from Virginia to Florida to entice Hokie fans to attend. Virginia Tech ended up selling only 7,000 tickets, less than half of what they were allotted to the game. Even with Stanford’s cross country travel, the Cardinal sold 9,000 tickets to the game, surpassing the Hokies. The lack of interest by both teams added to a crowd that was short of a sellout by over 10,000 seats.
While it is more than reasonable to assume that some Virginia Tech fans bought tickets through outlets other than the official allotment given to the University, the damage in perception was already done.
Compounding the attendance woes last year was the fact that the Orange Bowl was less than full the year before when Georgia Tech and Iowa faced off.
The exhale that you heard coming from the south was Orange Bowl reps breathing a sigh of relief when they secured Clemson and West Virginia for this bowl game. Remember, just a few weeks ago there was a possibility of Virginia vs. Louisville in this bowl game, which sounds like a bunch of empty seats in Miami posing as fans.
West Virginia and Clemson are both teams that are known for traveling well to bowl games. To me, this seems a perfect opportunity to distance ourselves from the attendance struggles of the past few years in this tough economy by combining with the Mountaineer faithful to fill the stands. Again, it is an opportunity for Clemson to separate itself from the ACC’s other teams and once again send a clear message that inviting Clemson Nation to a bowl game is an economically wise decision.
If you need more proof of how important perception is, consider that Virginia Tech secured an At-Large BCS invitation for the ACC based primarily on the fact that the Sugar Bowl thinks the Hokies will bring a bunch of fans. In the future, Clemson may have a good season but not an ACC Title to guarantee the BCS berth. How we travel to Miami this year could impact a bowl deciding on taking the Tigers as an At-Large.
I realize that a perception is not everything. But perception can sometimes be a reality.
This BCS bowl game is an opportunity. An opportunity to differentiate ourselves from our ACC brethren on the field and in the stands.
For information from IPTAY on ticket purchases, click here:
http://www.clemsontigers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120511aaa.html
If you are thinking about whether or not to go to Miami, watch this video of the Tigers returning home at 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning. If that does not fire you up, you need to be checked on by a doctor! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNk478FKHpc&feature=player_embedded!
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