All 3 of Clemson’s National Championship Teams advance
By: will-vandervort March 28, 2020

The Elite Eight in Clemson Football’s March Madness Tournament on The Clemson Insider is set, as the 1981 and 2016 Tigers joined the 2018 and 2019 teams, all top seeds, in the quarterfinals with easy wins in the last of the Sweet 16 games on Friday. The 1978 and 1948 teams won as well.

The Elite Eight will begin Saturday when the 2018 Tigers take on No. 3 seed, the 2013 Tigers in the West Regional Finals, while the 2019 Tigers will take on No. 2 seed, the 2015 Tigers in the Midwest Regional Finals.

The 2013 Tigers, which finished 11-2 and capped off a great season with a win over Ohio State in the 2014 Orange Bowl, is the only team who is not a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the Elite Eight.

Last Thursday, TCI began Clemson Football’s March Madness Tournament in honor of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament being canceled due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic.

If you want to see how TCI got to this point, you can check out the past results from last Thursday-Sunday, as well as Thursday’s results in the Sweet 16.

As for Friday, all the favorites advanced. The 1981 Tigers topped the 1987 Tigers, the No. 4 seed, with 97 percent of the vote in a runaway in the South, while the 2016 Tigers advanced in the East Region by getting 96 percent of the vote in beating No. 5 seed, the 1982 Tigers.

The most interesting matchup was the second game of the East Regional Semifinals. The 1978 team beat the 2011 Tigers, the No. 6 seed in the East Region, with 64 percent of the votes. Though it was not a close game, it was the closest outcome of any of the Sweet 16 matchups.

There was one surprise, though not an upset. The outcome between the 1948 Tigers and the 1900 Tigers in the South Region was expected to be a tight contest, but Clemson fans easily advanced the 1948 team into the Elite Eight with 89 percent of the vote.

The 1900 Tigers were Clemson’s first undefeated team (6-0) and were coached by John Heisman. It was Heisman’s first team at Clemson.

The Elite Eight is represented well by Clemson’s best teams through the years. All three national champions and both national runner-ups advanced to the regional finals. The 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 Tigers were all coached by Dabo Swinney, while the 1981 Tigers, the top seed in the South, were coached by Danny Ford.

Ford was the head coach of the 1978 Tigers in the Gator Bowl but was the offensive line coach during the regular season. They finished the season 11-1 and ranked No. 6 nationally.

The 1948 team was coached by Frank Howard. They finished the year 11-0 and ranked No. 11 in the final AP Poll. The 2013 Tigers, were, of course, coached by Swinney.

Sweet 16 Round (Friday’s results)

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