We still haven’t really gotten to the meat of the bowl schedule, which is later this week, but here are standings as of Tuesday morning.

After 5 bowls, here are the top 10 of the current BFBC standings.

Reminder: The first bowl game of the bowl season is this coming Saturday, December 20th. Don’t forget to join our Yahoo! Bowl Pick ‘Em group here - Big Fat Bowl Challenge. Group ID: 6220 Password: extreme. Winner gets a “Willy Korn” poster. Fill out your pick set if you haven’t already.

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Pitchfork Ben Tillman from The Chicken Curse has asked for our help and yours in overthrowing WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Ric Flair. Our favorite sports radio show, Prime Time with the Packman, is holding a contest for Co-Host of the Year and Clemson’s own Brenston Buckner is up against that Sakerlina fan Ric Flair. Vote and vote again as this poll seems to have no one-vote-per-user limit. After you vote for Buckner that option will disappear, just vote for another bracket and it’ll pop back up. VOTE HERE.

I have work to do, but NO. I slave for you, Block-C readers.

HEY, BIG FAT BOWL CHALLENGE
If you haven’t done so already, join our Bowl Pick ‘Em group. Group ID: 6220, password: extreme.

Winner gets a nice, shiny KORN poster.

BASKETBALL
Clemson traveled to Illinois and upended the previously undefeated Illini, 76-74. I thought the Tigers didn’t look too sharp in the first half, but fortunately they got things under control to overcome an 8 point halftime deficit. Clemson has passed their first real test of the year, and they now stand at 8-0. Illinois not even getting a shot off at the end was an EPIC FAIL.

DABO’S HIRES
Swinney has hired Charlie Harbison to coach Clemson’s secondary. Harbison was the defensive coordinator under Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State. He previously coached at Clemson from 1995-97. He is regarded as a great recruiter.

Dabo previously parted ways with Vic Koenning. If the stories swirling around the internet are to be believed, there was a lot of Mean Girls style passive aggression and sniping over who got to be the leader of the clique and they totally weren’t BFFs anymore. Vic was never most people’s favoritest Clemson coach, but his defense has been the best and most consistent part of this season’s Tiger squad, and he’ll have no trouble finding work. His defenses were consistently ranked in the top 20 nationally.

Former Clemson TE Danny Pearman has been hired on. Pearman had most recently been with Maryland, coaching tight ends and special teams.

***UPDATE*** Radio stations in SC are reporting that Swinney is interviewing former Tennessee DC/Assistant Head Coach John Chavis. Chavis would be a huge pickup for Clemson.

BIG FAT BOWL CHALLENGE

If you haven’t done so already, join our Bowl Pick ‘Em group. Group ID: 6220, password: extreme.

DABO DABO DABO DABO

Today’s top story, of course, is that interim head coach Dabo Swinney has agreed to terms with Terry Don Phillips to become the next head coach of the Clemson Tigers.  An official announcement should be made today or tomorrow. The P&C says 4 years at $1 mil per.

According to The State,

According to a source, Swinney was not offered the job immediately after the USC game on Saturday because Clemson officials did not want people outside the program to think he received the offer only as a result of that game’s outcome.

Sure, they don’t want it to appear that way…. but that’s the way it was, wasn’t it?

Phil Kornblut, the Gamecock homer who supposedly “covers” recruiting in South Carolina, which in reality means him calling recruits and their mothers and throwing Sakerlina pitches at them, writes about what hiring Swinney as full-on head coach will do for Clemson recruiting.

As for our bowl outlook, it’s looking awful Champy. Possible opponents could be Iowa, Minnesota, or Wisconsin.

HO-HUM, ANOTHER SAKERLINA BEAT DOWN, BIG DEAL

Saturday the Tigers beat Sakerlina 31-14. Of course, we only won because of Chris Smelley if you listen to this guy. Hey man, whatever it takes for you to cope with it, I guess. Having a firm grasp of reality was never a strong point of Gamecock fans. On local radio stations the excuse of the year has been that Clemson just “cares” about the rivalry more than Carolina does, so they tried harder than the Gamecocks. Look, if you can’t get up for a game, it’s on the players and coaches, and if you can’t get up for your rival, what the hell? That’s not an excuse it’s a fucking tragedy.

Wait a minute… Gamecock fans leaving a game early… WHA??????

The State tells us what to take from the game and gives kudos to the coaches and the Clemson seniors, who went out with a bang.

Ron Morris predicted Sakerlina to win this game 46-3. Now, that’s the sort of prediction that says “I really am a delusional homer and think that Clemson will get the shit beat out of them, but I’m not confident enough to make an honest prediction so I’ll ham it up. That way if Clemson does win, I can say I was obviously joking.” He also is the sheepish reporter complaining to Spurrier that Gamecock fans are sick of losing to Clemson, to which Spurrier snapped back “Well, what do you want me to do, Ron!?!” at the end of this video. Morris takes out his frustrations on Spurrier with this article, “Amid Spurrier’s rust, in Dabo Tigers trust.”

The State on the last hurrah of Thunder and Lightning together at Death Valley. As proud as I was of the team on Saturday, I was most happy for James Davis. He made a tough decision to return for his senior year, and for much of the season it appeared to be a waste. He managed to find some redemption once Tommy Bowden resigned under pressure, and now stands 101 yards and 1 touchdown away from owning the school records for both categories.

The P&C reports on what the Gamecocks are doing to regroup.

BASKETBALL

Clemson travels to Illinois to play the Illini in the ACC-Big Ten “Challenge” and will be on ESPN2 Tuesday night at 7:30. The Tigers are 7-0 on the year.