Fans all across the state of South Carolina are getting geared up for the 115th installment of the Palmetto Bowl … a bitter rivalry that divides even the strongest of families.

Clemson holds a 68-42-4 advantage in the series and enters Saturday’s game ranked third in the College Football Playoff Poll and as defending national champions. However, following a 56-7 defeat last season No. 24 South Carolina is hungry for revenge.

The Tigers and Gamecocks have only met seven times as ranked opponents and this is the first top-25 matchup since 2013. In those games South Carolina holds a 5-2 advantage over Clemson.

South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp has drastically improved the Gamecocks’ recruiting efforts in his first two seasons. However, when looking at the rosters Clemson has the advantage at almost every position.

While building a national championship program Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney filled his roster with four and five-star talent and developed other players into elite position players. Winning at a high level also requires a strong level of depth and the Tigers have reached that standard as well.

The Gamecocks do have a few players that could start on Clemson’s roster. However, they are few and far between.

The Tigers have struggles at times at right tackle this season rotating between sophomores Tremayne Anchrum and Sean Pollard. South Carolina’s offensive line has been led by junior Zack Bailey who made the transition from guard to tackle this season.

Bailey suffered an injury to his ankle early in the 2017 campaign and missed five weeks. Since returning he has been the driving force for the Gamecock offensive line.

Before the season South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley received a lot of hype and attention from the media while many people believed Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant would never see the field as a starter.

However, in Week 13 of 2017 Bryant is the better quarterback with 2,767 yards on the season with 10 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns with a mere five interceptions. Bentley has one more touchdown overall than Bryant (15 passing, six rushing) but has only 2,429 total yards on the year with nine interceptions.

With Clemson’s injuries in the linebacking core Gamecock Skai Moore would start for Clemson with 73 tackles and 11 interceptions but if the Tigers’ Tre Lamar and Kendall Joseph were both 100 percent this would be a much more difficult decision.

At tight end, it is difficult to distinguish between Clemson’s Milan Richard and South Carolina’s Hayden Hurst.

Richard is more athletic than Hurst with better speed and a higher rating as a recruit. The edge is definitely Hurst’s statistically with his 38 catches, 490 yards, and two touchdowns compared to Richards 14 catches, 204 yards, and one touchdown.

When looking at Clemson and South Carolina on paper by position it is clear why the Tigers are third nationally as defending champs and the Gamecocks are 24th in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. However, paper goes out the window Saturday and everything will be settled on the field.

The Palmetto Bowl kicks off Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia and will be televised on ESPN.