Clemson University Tigers

Clemson University

Clemson University Tigers
STADIUM: Memorial Stadium
EST DATE : 1896

The Clemson football program has enjoyed consecutive winning seasons 11 times in the past 12 years entering the 2012 campaign, reminding fans of the glory years of the 1980s. During that incredible decade, the Tigers posted an 87-25-4 composite record and were the fifth winningest Division I team. A 12-0 record in 1981, including a victory over No. 4 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, gave the school its only national championship. Atlantic Coast Conference titles were earned in 1981, ’82, ’86, ’87, ’88, '91 and 2011, and the Tigers won 10 games in each of four straight years (1987-90) and five consecutive bowl games following the 1986-90 seasons. Overall, Clemson has earned 18 conference titles and two division championships (2009 and 2011), and has won 16 bowl games. The Tigers began playing football in 1896 and had its first undefeated season and claimed its first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association title in 1900. Clemson garnered Southern Conference championships in 1940 and 1948, posting an 11-0 mark in the latter year. The team was stellar again in the late 1950s, going 38-13-2 from 1955-59, and again in the late 1970s, with a 27-8-1 mark from 1977-79. Thirteen times Clemson has been ranked among the top 12 in the final AP poll. The Tigers play their home games at 80,301-seat Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1942. Clemson has a winning percentage of over .710 at “Death Valley,” which witnessed a record attendance of 86,092 for a 1999 game against Florida State. A memorial to the Clemson service personnel killed while on military duty was dedicated outside Gate 1 in April 2010.