re: Clemson should absolutely be in the SEC

If Jed is OrangeCrush I nominate him for troll of the millennium

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People, you need to read up on your history. Both Clemson and USCe were pissed off about the North Carolina schools controlling the ACC when both of those schools were members. South Carolina and Clemson both decided to leave, but when the time came to leave USCe bolted and Clemson decided to stay in the ACC. This is just like FSU being chicken poo to join the SEC. Carolina, as a result of leaving the ACC was independent for years before they joined the SEC. I think that both USCe and FSU were In the Metro Conference with Tulane before they were invited to the big conferences. If Bowden wasn't so scared of Auburn and Bama, FSU would be in the SEC and USCe would probably be in some kind of fly by night conference. USCeneeds to thank chicken shite Bowden for USCe being in the SEC. The ACC has to travel all the way from Tally to New York and Boston. I hope they love the ACC's expansion because other than Missou. the SEC is still the southern pride of college football.

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You have some of that correct - some of it not-so-much.

South Carolina actually has three people to thank for us being in the SEC.

1 - Paul Dietzel for getting us out of the ACC and always saying that we would be in the SEC one day. He enlarged our stadium, brought us into big time booster club status and lobbied for us behind the scenes for two decades.

2 - Bill Arnsparger for being our strongest ally during the vetting process (much of it motivated through his friendship with Dietzel), and for appointing Foley, who was his associate AD at the time, to help walk South Carolina through the process, shake the right hands and meet the right people.

3 - Roy Kramer for having the foresight to recognize the immediate advantages to bringing-in the Gamecocks, the flagship university here in South Carolina ... where the SEC owns all of the flag ship universities in the Deep South. Besides, the SEC already had an Auburn and Miss State, they didn't need another one.

We have nothing to thank Bowden or FSU for ... nothing they did would have mattered one iota had South Carolina not been in a position to join the SEC when called upon. The SEC chose South Carolina, not Clemson, for a good reason. Clemson was never extended an invitation. It was FSU first, South Carolina second and that was where it ended.

Honorable Mention to Charles Bloom who was well connected enough to offer insight to King Dixon into Ole Miss and LSU power players who were key voters early in the process ... although it was a unanimous decision by the time the vote was tabled. Charlie's involvement in that process eventually led to Kramer hiring him in the SEC offices where he served under Kramer and Slive for 17 years before returning to us this past summer.

Those were the key players during the process - FSU had nothing to do with the final decision. FSU controlled their own fate, not ours. And no, had FSU joined the SEC then South Carolina was going to be invited back into the SEC ... which we would have taken in the climate of the time.

But yes, Clemson should have exited the ACC with us in '71 but they back-stabbed us, let the cat out of the bag, and allowed the ACC to lay for us before the meeting took place in Raleigh. They will continue to suffer for that decision until the end of times.