Per FanBlogs, if I’m reading this correctly, the NCAA has finally changed one of their stupidest rules that Clemson stupidly broke repeatedly.

Offensive Scrimmage Formation (Rules 1-1-1-b-2 and 7-1-3-b) The requirement for having at least seven offensive players on the line of scrimmage has been re-stated to allow no more than four players in the backfield. This is not a rule change but merely a different way of writing the same requirement. It does eliminate the foul for a team having ten players when there are only six on the line of scrimmage. Otherwise, the requirements for scrimmage formations remain the same.

I know that penalty cost us the ’05 game at Georgia Tech as well as the ’06 game against Maryland. Did it cost us the ’08 Maryland game as well? [Edit: I guess not, it was some other stupid penalty.]

Clemson managed another resounding thud today, losing to #12 seeded Georgia Tech in their opening round game of the ACC Tournament. Clemson had beaten GT in two games earlier this season.

The Tigers are 1-4 in their last 5 games, having lost just about every game of importance, and a luke-warm 8-8 since out-of-conference play ended.

On the upside… oh fuck it. There is no upside.

Unless you’ve been living in a cubicle shaped hole the last few days like this blogger, you’re well aware that the basketball team was unable to overcome Wake Forest who shot a ridiculous 60% from the floor on Sunday.

The good news is that the ACC Tournament starts tomorrow and we play Georgia Tech at 2PM. Georgia Tech finished last in the conference and Clemson beat them twice already this season. Unfortunately playing GT is also bad news because it means that we don’t get a bye in the first round. It also means that, if the Tigers win as they should, they will face Florida State at 2PM on Friday. FSU, you may recall, has already beaten the Tigers twice this year.

Note: Clemson mayor Larry Abernathy is working to save the Astro. He “has proposed that the theatre be refurbished for a three-screen complex, featuring foreign films [ed from Canada?], as well as a concert venue allowing local individuals to showcase their talents.” I wish him no luck in his task as I suspect the building is worth more as scrap and new parking places than it is as a venue for foreign films. Last I checked, Clemson was not lacking in venues to show movies, nor was there an outrageous demand for foreign films. Moreover, the old building isn’t even nice to look at. Unless someone can come up with better ideas and the funding to implement them, I’ll be more than happy to contribute to the demolition costs.

The men’s basketball team was the victor in Atlanta today with red-hot 3-point shooting leading the Tigers past the Yellow Jackets 81-73. As I spent most of the day driving, I didn’t watch any of the game. From the perspective of someone who only reads online reports, it sounds like the difference between this game against a bottom-dweller and last week’s game against a bottom dweller is that sometimes your hot and sometimes your not. This perspective is either the cause of or a symptom of (or maybe both) my general uneasiness about the rest of the season.

Today the team was 12-21 from behind the arc. I told you it was red-hot. However that appears to have been the difference in the game. Plus the 57% hit rate was quite a bit above the team’s season average of 38%. It points to a good win that maybe, just maybe, was heavily influenced by luck.

Nonetheless, it’s a win and I’m sure we’ll all take it. Clemson is now 8-4 in conference. UNC is still leading the conference, but now they have 3 losses. FSU is also 8-4 while Duke and Wake Forest are both 7-4. To borrow from Larry Williams,

If you’re a Clemson fan right now, you’re thinking: “How in the world did we lose those games to FSU and Virginia?”

Almost every team has a few games that it should’ve and could’ve won, so it all usually evens out. But still … a 19-point second-half lead over the Seminoles at home. And that listless first half in Charlottesville. Ugh.

While it’s nice to see Clemson up there with the North Carolina schools of the ACC world, it also means that every remaining game is extremely important and that destiny can still be highly controlled. Here’s to hoping that the remaining games against FSU, VT, UVA, and Wake can go our way.

It’s still a bit stunning to think about yesterday’s news. I know what happened (or at least I know what they say happened). I understand why it happened. Nonetheless the news remains to be internalized.

The news has had a pretty dramatic impact on the line movement for Saturday’s game. Clemson started off as a favorite by up to 2.5; now GT is favored by up to the same amount. Frankly, I was surprised that we were favored to start with. But now I’m surprised that the expectation is for the change to make us worse. Let’s just chalk it up to uncertainty.

VT vs. Clemson, 6 PM on ESPN. Be afraid be very afraid. Of course GT must come first, but you can’t say that this gnome didn’t see it coming. The revenge game from Clemson’s dismantling at Blacksburg on the fateful Thursday night will be reciprocated in a Death Valley showdown that you can guarantee will match the GT blowout crowd performance from last year. ESPN probably had this one penciled in the books after the Tigers took out FSU at the beginning of the season. Never the less, the Hokies had better get their A-game on for a night in the Valley, cause these fans have a Miami like ear shattering pain to lay on the hokie O when they come in after embarassing our team from last year. Karma, aint it a bitch.

DAMNIT!! This is making it really hard to think about GT now…….CRAP!

Forget you ever read this post and return to your Tommy Bowden shrines.

Like last year, I have done my best to roundup all the competing post-spring/pre-season rankings.

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Clemson’s future out-of-conference opponents are always up in the air, but at least we know which ACC teams we’ll play through 2015 (assuming the conference stays together).

2007 Clemson Football Scheduled Opponents (in no particular order)::
@Maryland
Wake
@ NC State
FSU
BC
@ Ga. Tech
@ Duke
Va. Tech
(OOC: Furman, UL-Monroe, some MAC team, SC)

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