History, Omaha dramatics, support from schools create special situation
It is foolish to single out any one rivalry in collegiate athletics as the best of them all. While I have no reservations about declaring the best rivalry in all of sports (Yankees-Red Sox) or the history of mankind (Capitalists-Communists), I think it's best to classify each major college rivalry on its own merit and not try to compare what is unfit for comparison.
The Army-Navy football rivalry is the most poignant. The Duke-North Carolina basketball rivalry is the most overrated. The Ohio State-Michigan football rivalry is the most historic. The Auburn-Alabama football rivalry is the nastiest. The Texas-Texas A&M football rivalry is the most underrated. The Boise State-Idaho football rivalry is the most lopsided.
As for the South Carolina-Clemson baseball rivalry? It is the most unique rivalry.
First, you have two large state institutions in the South with massive football stadiums and obsessive fan bases that have decided to not only support but sink major time, effort and money into baseball, which is pretty low on the totem pole at most places.
"Our administrations, our athletic directors, our presidents — they've embraced baseball at both institutions," USC coach Ray Tanner said. "It makes for an opportunity for both programs to excel."
And they have excelled, going to 21 College World Series between them, with the Gamecocks grabbing that elusive national title this summer.
"It's an in-state rivalry; it's a big deal," Tanner said. "But it's a national exposure game as well, a national series that we're very proud of."
The history between the two is rich, of course. It's also kind of quirky. In the all-time series, Clemson has dominated the Gamecocks. It holds a 167-123-2 series advantage, good for a .572 winning percentage.
But Clemson is 0-4 in arguably the four biggest of those 292 meetings, as the Gamecocks have twice ripped the Tigers' hearts out on the threshold of a national championship, winning two straight against CU in the 2002 and 2010 College World Series to eliminate the Tigers and send USC to the Series finals.
There's also the fact that the players understand what the rivalry means to the fans and take to the field.
Assistant coach Ellis Johnson has several times talked about how the football rivalry has been sapped somewhat because few players at Clemson or USC were recruited heavily by the other. That's not the case with baseball. Both teams are full of in-state kids, many of whom were recruited by both schools coming out of high school. They chose one side over the other.
Michael Roth, the hero of Omaha and USC's starting pitcher tonight, perfectly summed up what the rivalry means to the two sides when he was asked about Clemson's emphatic 19-6 regular season series-winning romp in Columbia last year.
"That [following] week, we had barely any fans come out to the next game," Roth said. "We were like, 'Dang, we really pissed them off.' I would've been upset, too."
Roth said that strong word the fans like to throw around isn't applicable to the rivalry ("We have a great respect for Clemson and its program"), but if it isn't hate, there is something to it.
"When we're out here on the field, we want to kick the crap out of each other," Roth said. "That's part of just wearing this garnet and black and them wearing the purple and orange."
It's also just part of this rivalry, going strong for some 112 unique years.
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