ACC's Decision To Play Has Worked Out For Clemson
For the second consecutive week, ESPN's College Gameday will travel to a game featuring two ACC opponents.
Last week, Winston-Salem was spotlighted as the Demon Deacons faced top-ranked Clemson. This week, the flagship college football show will head to Louisville as the Cardinals host the Miami Hurricanes in another chance for the conference to be in the spotlight.
The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the college football schedule, forcing conferences to either opt out or push back the start of their respective seasons. The Atlantic Coast Conference decided early it would only lose one week before starting this past weekend.
Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney said he is thankful to the ACC because he believes that playing this season is the right thing to do.
"I don't think there's any question about it," Swinney told the media Wednesday. "The right thing to do isn't always the politically correct thing to do, but I think the leadership of the presidents of the ACC and SEC and Big 12, they made a decision on the information they had."
While the Big 12 opened this past weekend, along the with ACC, the SEC will not start until Sept. 26. The lack of Power Five teams, along with the inclusion of Notre Dame, has given the conference even more exposure.
"We have great coverage every single year," Swinney said. "Our league is definitely going to be strong this year. A lot of our teams qualified for postseason, but I don't think year will be any different. I think there are some much improved teams across the board, and some teams that were pretty good last year that will be even better."
It was announced Wednesday the Big Ten Conference, who originally planned to play its season in 2021, will now play an eight-game season beginning Oct. 24.
"I respect other people's decisions, but it worked out for us because we could get back to work," Swinney said. "We've already played a game, probably could have started earlier to be honest. But thankful for the chance to get to work and excited the Big Ten's going to get back."
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