Clemson ‘disappointed’ at Palmetto Bowl cancellation in 2020

Clemson football wishes the Palmetto Bowl wasn’t canceled for 2020 season.

Clemson football will have to look for another guaranteed victory in the non-conference now.

With the SEC going conference-only for the 2020 college football season, that means the four in-state rivalries between ACC and SEC schools will not be played this year. Florida won’t play Florida State, Georgia won’t play Georgia Tech, Kentucky won’t play Louisville and Clemson won’t play South Carolina. That means the Palmetto Bowl isn’t happening.

Per Clemson University athletic director Dan Radakovich, “Clemson aggressively lobbied the ACC to include an additional non-conference game for the primary purpose of maintaining our long-standing rivalry game with South Carolina.”

“We’re disappointed to hear of the scheduling decision announced by the SEC, as we know the importance of The Palmetto Bowl to the State of South Carolina. We will work to fill the opening on our schedule immediately.”

Clemson football looks to have been burned by the ACC’s plus-one caveat.

When the ACC announced its scheduling plans on Wednesday afternoon, there were a lot of great things ACC commissioner John Swofford had implemented for the football season. Adding Notre Dame into the mix was obvious, but brilliant, especially splitting the NBC contract television revenue with the 14 members of the ACC for this one-of-a-kind season.

Going division-less and having the two best teams meet at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte was outstanding. Implementing five home games and five road games was an incredible idea, too. However, the plus-one, non-conference caveat has bit the ACC in the ass. All 15 ACC schools could play a non-conference game, as long as it was in the homes state of the team in question.

While it would have allowed the four in-state ACC/SEC games to continue, it killed other games in the process including Georgia vs. Virginia, Auburn vs. North Carolina, Florida State vs. West Virginia and Navy vs. Notre Dame. While the Irish and Midshipmen could still play in South Bend or Indianapolis, Indiana, the ACC ruined all three Chick-fil-A Kickoff games, and the SEC isn’t happy.

The SEC had considered going conference-only on Wednesday, but didn’t make its official decision until a day later. Although safety is the most important thing here, the ACC going with that sneaky “but it’s gotta be on their state’s turf” caveat, the SEC wasn’t amused and decided to go in its own direction. We can’t really be surprised. Could you imagine if the Power 5 were united?

While Clemson is disappointed, the South Carolina Gamecocks can now go undefeated in 2020.

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