2010 ACC Tournament: A Dubious History For The Clemson Tigers

This fan remembers.

Growing up in Charlotte, the ACC tournament was the most important event of the year, bar none.

If you brought in a ticket stub the following Monday, missing school to go to the quarterfinal round was an excused absence.

If you didn’t have access to tickets, it wasn’t a problem. Most teachers were willing to show the noon game in class, especially if one of the Tobacco Road teams were involved.

I remember telling my father that if he could find me a ticket to the Clemson/Florida State quarterfinal matchup in 1993, he would be exempt from present duty for the next three birthdays and Christmases.

Always up for a bargain, dear old dad called everyone he knew.

Of course, Duke was playing Georgia Tech in the nightcap, so all tickets were spoken for.

We ended up watching the game on television.

That night, Cliff Ellis’ Tigers thumped the Seminoles, who had managed a two-seed in only their second ACC tourney. As I was in junior high school, I mentioned that I would have given a leg to be there.

At that age, it was probably an earnest statement.

That was the significance of the ACC tournament then.

Not that much has changed.

The expansion to a dozen teams just means that there are still probably a few school districts left in the state of North Carolina that will grant two days of excused absences.

Further away from I-40, it’s always been a bit tougher for the Clemson Tigers. Success in the precursor to the Big Dance has been limited.

In 1993, Clemson very nearly went on to beat Georgia Tech the next day in the semis. A blizzard that had earlier clipped the power at the Charlotte Coliseum raged outside while Chris Witney connected on trey after trey.

In the end, though, it was the six-seed Yellow Jackets that went on to win the tournament, beating UNC the next day.

The list of near misses goes on after that.

Rick Barnes having to be separated from Dean Smith is a great memory, but not in victory.

Greg Buckner’s dunk at the buzzer to beat North Carolina in the quarterfinals a year later was thrilling, but Tim Duncan and Wake Forest made short work of Clemson the next day.

Tiger Nation held their breath two years ago as Clemson actually made it to a final, only to drop it to the Heels.

In 2010, what will the Tigers' storyline be?

This era of Oliver Purnell-coached teams has been both thrilling and frustrating.

In 2007, with James Mays, K.C. Rivers, and a younger Trevor Booker, Clemson dominated early in a Thursday game against Florida State and watched the game slip away late. Last year, it was the bottom-feeding Yellow Jackets again that sent Clemson home early.

Wait a minute. Was 2008 an apparition?

Maybe the bottom line is that anything can happen in March, especially in the ACC which seems to stand for the “Anything Can Conference.”

If I had children (and tickets), they would be headed to Greensboro on Thursday.

Excused or not, it’s still the ACC Tournament.