Clemson Welcomes Notre Dame To ACC
CLEMSON, S.C. (CU SID) — Wednesday the ACC announced Notre Dame as the 15th member of the conference in all sports but football. The Irish football team will remain independent but play five ACC opponents per season. Clemson Head Football Coach Dabo Swinney “This is a real positive for the ACC. It is a compliment to our league that a school of Notre Dame‘s stature, a school that had so many choices, selected the ACC. “From a football standpoint, playing five games against ACC teams is a positive. It enhances the league‘s exposure every time you play Notre Dame. You can see where it helps Notre Dame football as well when it comes to bowl opportunities and scheduling. There are no negatives in this.” Clemson Head Basketball Coach Brad Brownell: “This is certainly another great step for the conference. Notre Dame is a premier academic and athletic institution that clearly fits the model we have in the ACC. “In terms of basketball, it‘s another feather in the cap of the league. We‘ve added another program that is really strong in basketball. They have a national reputation and tradition. It solidifies the fact that the ACC has become the premier league in college basketball. Mike Brey is an outstanding coach who does things the right way. He‘s stayed the course at Notre Dame and built a tremendous program. His program has sustained consistent success, which is something we all strive to do. “It will be interesting to see if the addition of Notre Dame opens up avenues in recruiting to the Midwest. I believe we will be able to recruit even more in the Chicago area and in the state of Indiana, places where Notre Dame obviously has a strong name. Most importantly, Notre Dame‘s addition is going to bring more exposure of the ACC to those parts of the country due to the television package.” Clemson Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips “This is a great addition to the ACC and credit must go to Commissioner John Swofford and the ACC Presidents, especially Jim Barker, who was significantly involved in this process. “We appreciate the tradition and heritage of Notre Dame in all sports. They have one of the best all-around athletic programs in the nation. We look forward to their teams coming to Clemson, in particular when they come to Death Valley.” Notre Dame holds an 18-8 advantage over Clemson in all sports, including a 2-1 Notre Dame win in men‘s soccer earlier this year.
The two schools have met the most times in women‘s tennis, 10 times, including the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
The two schools have met in eight sports overall: football (1-1) , women’s fencing (0-3) , men’s fencing (0-2) , wrestling (2-0), women’s tennis (2-8), baseball (0-1), Men‘s soccer (2-1) and volleyball (1-2). Clemson no longer has a men’s or women’s fencing team . Both Clemson and Notre Dame no longer have a wrestling program.
The most famous meeting between the two schools in any sport took place on November 12, 1977 when a pair of top 15 football teams met in Clemson’s Death Valley. A fifth-ranked Notre Dame football team led by Joe Montana, defeated a 15th-ranked Clemson team led by Steve Fuller, 21-17. Notre Dame went on to win the National Championship. Thirty-six players in that game went on to play in the NFL.
Clemson came back to win at Notre Dame two years later, 16-10. It was just the second time in the last 40 years (1940-79) that Notre Dame’s seniors lost their last home game. Billy Lott scored a touchdown late in the game to give Clemson the win and overcome a 10-0 deficit.
The two schools have never met in men‘s or women‘s basketball.
