It appears that the only thing about the Clemson-South-Carolina rivalry that is competitive is how outrageous one fan base can get in their desperation to feel relevant. It has become fairly obvious that football is not really competitive, especially in the last 7 years. The TIgers own the gamecocks 72-42-4, and the games really haven’t been close the last several years. Think of what the record would have been had the Thursday game not been played in Columbia all those years.
Men’s basketball used to be one of those sports that USC could count on to get back after football season, but just going back the last 17 years, Clemson holds a 12-5 edge. Overall, USC does have the advantage 91-80. Clemson is 6-5 since Brad Brownell arrived, and while a lot of fans keep calling for his job, he does have success against his rival.
Clemson’s soccer team holds a 32-17-1 advantage over the little brother from the mid-state, including three National Championships and 14 ACC Championships. It’s been very competitive between these two schools but of late, Clemson has gotten the best of the rivalry. The last four games have been Tiger victories, outscoring USC 14-2 in those contests. Yeah, not that close.
This brings me to baseball. Monte Lee enjoyed pretty good success during his first five years, compiling a 182-86 record, but floundered last year, going 25-27. Yes, those same unhappy fans started calling for him to be let loose, but that seems to be the thing to do lately. The “what have you done for me lately” rhetoric is very prevalent in sports today. Lee’s record against USC is 12-8, having won 5 of 7 series since his arrival at Clemson. Clemson holds the overall advantage in baseball 185-143-2.
Social media is always fun to watch after a Clemson victory over USC in any sport. “FIRE FRANK MARTIN!!! FIRE MARK KINGSTON!!! FIRE RAY TANNER!!!”
“Fire Kingston. Fire Tanner. Our baseball program has too much invested in it to not be the best in the state”
“Being swept by Tater Tech is absolutely unacceptable for Gamecock Baseball!”
Ahhhhh, Clemson-South Carolina rivalry. It’s gotta be tough these days waking up a Gamecock fan.
From Wikipedia:
Unlike most major college rivalries, the Carolina–Clemson rivalry did not start innocently or because of competitive collegiate sports. The deep-seated bitterness began between the two schools long before Clemson received its charter and became a college. The two institutions were founded eighty-eight years apart: South Carolina College in 1801 and Clemson Agricultural College in 1889.
South Carolina College was founded in 1801 to unite and promote harmony between the Lowcountry and the Backcountry.[5] It closed during the Civil War when its students aided the Southern cause, but the closure gave politicians an opportunity to reorganize it to their liking.] The Radical Republicans in charge of state government during Reconstruction opened the school to blacks and women while appropriating generous funds to the university, which caused the white citizens of the state to withdraw their support for the university[ and view it as a symbol of the worst aspects of Reconstruction.
The Democrats returned to power in 1877 following their electoral victory over the Radical Republicans and promptly proceeded to close the university. Sentiment in the state favored opening an agriculture college, so the university was reorganized as the South Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. In 1882, the college was renamed to its antebellum name, South Carolina College, which infuriated the farmers who felt that the politicians had frustrated the will of the people by de-emphasizing agriculture education, even though the school still retained the department of agriculture. Clemson, from its beginning, was an all-white male military school. The school remained this way until 1955 when it changed to “civilian” status for students and became a coeducational institution.
