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CLEMSON — For the first time since the Clemson Tigers last year’s national championship game, the Tigers may get to don their orange pants in their game at Virginia Tech on Saturday.


Not because it is a prime-time game or because it is a nationally televised game on ABC in prime-time. 

No, they only don their orange pants because a championship is on the line —well, kind of, the Tigers can clinch a spot in the ACC Championship, a right normally reserved for the two division champions. However, this year the ACC is divisionless.

The Tigers open every season with five goals in front of them: win the opener, win the division, win the ACC Championship and win the closer. Along with the potential to accomplish their second goal of the season comes another honor — wearing the orange pants that are only worn when a championship is on the line.

However, when he was asked whether or not the Tigers would carry two pairs of pants to Blacksburg this week, their traditional white and their championship pants, head coach Dabo Swinney kept his cards close to his vest.

”Well I don't know that, so nobody has told me at this point," Swinney said. "If something happens, that could definitely be a possibility. Right now we've got to go win two games." 

Former co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott he remembered when the Tigers were more focused on their uniforms than the opponent, which was one of the first things that Swinney changed when he became head coach.

"When Coach Swinney took over, he wanted to bring some uniformity to our uniform policy,” Scott said. “In the past, it was seniors get to vote what they want to wear ... and Coach Swinney wanted there to be some consistency. I think from the beginning, he started that we only wear those orange pants when there's a championship on the line."