CLEMSON COACH COULD BE DISMISSED THIS AFTERNOON

Last night’s Clemson University collapse at Wake Forest placed the coaching career of Tommy Bowden in the ICU. Rumors are rampant (again)up and down I-26 and I-385 that a Clemson Board of Trustees Meeting is underway to discuss Tommy Bowden’s future at Clemson.

A press conference has been scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

If Bowden is dismissed at today’s news conference, it will not be this year’s first mid-season firing of a coach at a southern school that wears orange and uses the Tiger as a mascot. Earlier this week, Auburn fired its Offensive Coordinator in a surprising mid-season move.

This situation and its rumors will only intensify throughout the season and will most likely provide a distraction for the Clemson football team. I remember the week in which the hiring of coach Steve Spurrier rumors came to fruition at South Carolina. We all knew it was going happen and in many ways it took away from the Clemson-Carolina game, one which will forever be remembered for “the brawl.”

For those of us in the Gamecock Nation, our interests are a fork in the road. Many of us would love to see Tommy take his Kleenex Box back to Free Shoes University to hold Papa Bowden’s clipboard, however many of us fear Clemson hiring a better coach. Alas, I have the perfect scenario: Clemson should promote Brad Scott. Heck at the least, Scott’s promotion would be good for the local economy, we all know Brad keeps those restaurants in business.

SEC FOOTBALL GAME TAKES BACK SEAT TO HORSES AND THE ACC?

This might be the first time in SEC history that football is not the focal point of a gameday Saturday. Yes, tomorrow’s SEC East showdown between the Universities of South Carolina and Kentucky is second fiddle among both fan bases. The folks in Garnet and Black are more interested in the demise of Tommy Bowden and the folks at Big Blue care more about 5 foot tall jockeys, Queen Elizabeth, and which 7 foot basketball recruit is on campus.

In just 24 hours, the Gamecocks and the Wildcats will be mixing it up at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky. The game could prove to be a pivotal SEC match-up as the Wildcats look to rebound after a moral victory versus Alabama and the Gamecocks look to make it two SEC wins in a row after a thrilling come from behind victory in Oxford.

With the SEC having nine bowl births, this game could make the difference between a trip to Shreveport or a visit to Nashville, bowl eligibility permitting. However, this game isn’t even being talked about by Gamecock fans and tomorrow in Lexington, it takes a back seat to Half a million dollar purse being awarded in the QEII Stakes at Keeneland.

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UPDATE: The press conference was to announce the benching of quarterback Cullen Harper for redshirt freshman Willy Korn.

(Photo: AP)

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