Clemson vs. Texas A&M: This Is a Test

The No. 1-ranked Tigers tangle with the No. 12-ranked Aggies today at 3:30 p.m. in Death Valley. The game will be broadcast on ABC. This looks to be Clemson's biggest test of the season amid a relatively weak schedule.

GAME PREVIEWS: Saturday Blitz, Sports Illustrated, The State, TigerNet.

SERIES HIGHLIGHTS: It's 1-1 between the schools.

LATEST LINE: The Tigers are favored by 17.5? Seems high.

Death Valley Will Look a Little Different in 2019

Tigernet details some changes to the physical plant at Memorial Stadium. This includes removing the small ticket office at Gate 1 to create more access points, finishing the IPTAY building in the WestZone, and adding some national championship signage.

Sounds like positive changes.

Sold-Out Games Aren't Common Anymore

A good article from the Greenville News notes that Clemson hasn't sold out many home games in recent years, despite having a traditionally rabid fan base that's in the midst of the program's greatest period of success.

This bit surprised me:

The conventional culprits of expensive ticket costs, low demand and enhanced television viewing experiences are not the only reasons for the empty seats.

Turns out that one of the biggest factors affecting ticket sales is how many fans the visiting team brings.

Running down the Hill: The entire sequence

Now that the whole world loves Clemson following its thrilling 38-35 victory over Georgia on Saturday night, here's a video that's really blowing up on social media. It's from ABC/ESPN's broadcast of the game, and it's the entire running-down-the-Hill sequence -- the bus ride from the locker room to the actual sprint into the stadium. It captures a lot of angles I've never seen before. Enjoy.

USA TODAY says Clemson among top 10 stadium scenes

Pretty heady company:

Memorial Stadium, Clemson: Dubbed the 25 most exciting seconds in college football, the Tigers gather at the top of a hill and each player touches Howard's Rock as he sprints down to the field.

Check out the whole gallery here, courtesy of my employer.

Clemson-Georgia among 2013's most intriguing games

The Aug. 31 matchup in Death Valley comes in at No. 4 on this list by Yahoo Sports:

4. Georgia at Clemson, Aug. 31. When quarterbacks Aaron Murray and Tajh Boyd both came back for their senior years, this became a marquee season opener between neighbors with national title aspirations. The Tigers took a big step forward in respectability by beating LSU in the Chik-Fil-A Bowl last year, and a second straight win over an SEC power would be huge. For the Bulldogs, this begins an incredible opening month of the season, with South Carolina and LSU both to come in September. 

Also intriguing -- Clemson vs. Florida State (No. 13).

Clemson: The best stadium in America?

Photo courtesy Clemson Athletic Department.

Everybody using the hashtag #clemson on Twitter today is linking to this year-old 125-slide click-bait photo gallery that "power-ranks" the best college football stadiums. The reason? Clemson is No. 1:

Known nationwide as "Death Valley," this venue is the best place in the country to enjoy a college football game.It seats 80,301 and was built in 1942. The stadium will be filled with orange, as the crowd loves to support their Tigers. There are not many fans in the country that are more passionate about their team than this group. When Clemson is playing well and the game is going good, the noise in here is as loud as it gets in college football.

Is it me, or is that a pretty generic description? I guess it's cool that Bleacher Report loves Death Valley, but even I don't believe it's the country's greatest football venue. Top 20? Definitely. Better than LSU, Notre Dame or Ohio State? I'm not sure. Then again, this is coming from a writer who ranks Kenan Stadium at North Carolina, one of the most beautiful on-campus settings in the country, far below the crappy stadiums at N.C. State, Wake Forest and Maryland.

ESPN GameDay at Clemson on Aug. 31?

Possibly...From Tigernet:

A host on ESPN’s College Football Live Show on Friday said that GameDay will be in Clemson for the Clemson-Georgia game on August 31st. It appears he may have slipped up and "let the cat out of the bag." 

I can't imagine why ESPN wouldn't come to Tigertown for that matchup. It'll be one of the biggest games of the year in college football.

Accused Howard's Rock defiler waives probable-cause hearing

AP Photo/Anderson Independent-Mail, Mark Crammer

Micah Rogers has been charged with one felony (malicious injury to personal property) and one misdemeanor (trespassing, unlawful entry into enclosed places) related to the vandalism of Howard's Rock at Clemson's football stadium. The incident occurred in June.

The question remains: Why would a so-called Clemson fan do such a thing?