Clemson and Auburn to get it on in 2010,’11

By Marc Hudgens  |   Wednesday, July 11, 2007  |  Comments( 5 )

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Officials at Clemson and Auburn announced this past Thursday that home-and-home matchups will take place less than half a decade from now, reviving a rivalry that college football hasn't been seen in years.

The 2010 game will be played in Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium, and the following year Auburn will travel to Clemson's Death Valley.

For Clemson, this matchup replaces the Pitt series that was cancelled a few days ago. For Auburn, this replaces the West Virginia series, which was bumped up to the 2008 and '09 seasons.

The last time these teams met was in a bowl game -- the Peach Bowl as it was known then, where Auburn defeated Clemson, 21-17, in 1998. The last time these two met in the regular season goes back much further -- 1971, when Auburn won 35-13 at Clemson. The last time Clemson beat Auburn was over a half-century ago (34-0 in 1951).

Auburn leads this series, which dates back to 1899, 32-11-2. To specify their history a bit more, the two programs were regular opponents more years than not. There was a continuous five-year stretch between 1967-1971 and a decade's worth between 1946-1955; and with the exception of two seasons, there were almost 20 years of continuous face-offs, which were between 1910 and 1929.

Auburn and Clemson were originally slated to square off in 2006 and '07. However, according to then-Auburn Athletic Director David Housel, the school backed out because of financial reasons, stating the program needed seven home games a year to help finance a $30 million renovation of Jordan-Hare.

"The two-game series with Auburn will certainly be exciting for our fans and our players, " said Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden, who coached at Auburn from 1991-96.

That's probably the understatement of the year, because Clemson fans are already salivating over this upcoming clash.

"There really are a lot of similarities in the two schools. I am sure it will be a series that will be nationally televised and bring considerable exposure to both programs," Bowden went on to say.

Current Auburn A.D. Jay Jacobs shared in Bowden's excitement.

"We're very pleased about adding Clemson to our schedule in 2010 and 2011. Clemson has an outstanding program, and it will be exciting to renew a rivalry that dates back over 100 years," stated Jacobs.

"This is a continuation of our commitment to schedule quality non-conference opponents. The SEC-ACC matchup is one that all Auburn and Clemson fans can look forward to. The home-and-home series will also be beneficial to both schools' fans with both campuses being so close in proximity," Auburn's Athletic skipper said.

The ACC and SEC have always had a naturally fierce rivalry, dating back many decades when most of these conferences' charter members were part of the Southern Conference. Then in 1933, 13 schools (Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Sewanee, Tennessee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt) splintered off and formed the Southeastern Conference. Twenty years later another secession occurred, with seven schools (Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest) bolting to form the Atlantic Coast Conference. And an interconference rivalry was born.

Today, these annual fights include Georgia v. Georgia Tech, Florida State v. Florida, Clemson v. South Carolina, and with the ACC's expansion, Miami v. Florida. Bowl people realize the value of this rivalry and pit the conferences against one another on grander stages. The Chick-fil-A (formerly Peach) Bowl in Atlanta and the Music City Bowl in Nashville have official ties with both conferences, and there's always the possibility of two more ACC/SEC matchups in the Sugar and Orange Bowls, depending on conference champions and who gets at-large berths to where.

Clemson is also gunning for more regular SEC competition. As it stands now, after the Auburn series ends, the Tigers get Vanderbilt in 2012 and 2013, Georgia in '13 and 2014 and Ole Miss in 2015 and 2016. The Georgia game will most definitely be hostile; after all, Clemson fans do have a historic dislike for the Bulldogs.

The ACC and SEC have always loved going at it tooth and nail, leaving blood, sweat and tears in their wake. That rivalry tradition is alive and well, and the Clemson/Auburn slobberknockers will most certainly live up to expectations.

It's this kind of thing that makes football a religion in the south.

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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He...
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CommentsComments: 5  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Bob		10:08 AM
07/11/2007
Good article - I hope the games actually get played though. Not only did our original series with Auburn get cancelled, but so...
No.2
Chris		11:56 AM
07/11/2007
let's not forget the real history of this great rivalry. Coach John Heisman left Auburn to start the program at Clemson (hence...
No.3
adam		01:43 PM
07/11/2007
chris that's wrong. while heisman did go to clemson from auburn...he didn't start the clemson football team. walter riggs was...
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