Gamecocks take 15-game rivalry winning streak to Clemson
· Yahoo Sports
Nov. 12—CLEMSON — You think about last year when it comes to this year. That's the nature of rivalry, especially when the other side is one of the country's most respected programs and yours is still building to the level of consistent success.
The selection committee assigned Clemson to South Carolina's regional during last year's NCAA Tournament, so if each team won, they'd play each other in the second round. Shawn Poppie's second-year team lost 65-37 in the regular-season matchup in Columbia, but it was a 10-point game entering the fourth quarter, and it was the third game of the season for each.
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They were different teams going into the postseason. So maybe ...
"Yeah, I think that team wanted a chance. I think that's when you think about measuring stick, like what does it look like at the end of the year in an NCAA Tournament game?," he said. "I know that our team wasn't looking past Southern Cal to get to them, but I think we would have welcomed an opportunity."
Don't misrepresent that. Poppie, having transformed the Tigers from years of anonymity into an NCAA Tournament squad, was in no way saying his team would have beaten South Carolina. The Gamecocks, in the middle of their sixth straight run to the Final Four and third straight appearance in the national championship game, were about as formidable an opponent as Clemson could have dreamed up, especially after not playing particularly well but still drumming the Tigers in November, their 15th straight win in the series (all but three by at least 20 points).
But after last year ended like it did — a controversial call became a first-round loss to Southern Cal in Columbia — perhaps winning a first-round game for the second time in a quarter-century and being familiar with the opponent ... I mean ... maybe ... you know ... March madness?
"I think it would have been a pretty cool environment in a second-round game. But I don't know, it's so far removed now," Poppie said. "It feels like just yesterday, but also years ago since that happened. So I don't think there's any holding onto that as we head into this week, no."
The annual rivalry is set to resume when the Gamecocks, the nation's top-ranked team with two Top-25 wins in two tries already this young season, tip off at Littlejohn Coliseum at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
The series is the series and history is history but the Tigers (2-0) welcome the chance to take on the 2-0 Gamecocks. No doubt Poppie has been looking at game film and seen that USC, still rotating through point guards, doesn't have much offensive flow if trying to run a set play.
Then again, the Gamecocks' defense held North Carolina (preseason No. 12 and featuring one of the country's top freshmen) to under a point a minute and forced 24 turnovers in Charlotte on Sunday. Those became 38 USC points.
The Tigers will try to slow it down and keep pace, and see if there's something to build on in case there's another meeting this year.
Just in case.
Follow David Cloninger on Twitter at @DCPandC
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