The Atlantic Division champion Clemson Tigers will
be in search of another piece of history when the team
takes to the field against the Coastal Division champion
Pittsburgh Panthers in the 2018 ACC Championship
Game. Kickoff from Bank of America Stadium in
Charlotte is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
A win on Saturday would give Clemson its fourth
consecutive ACC title and make the Tigers the first
team in the conference’s 66-season history to win four
consecutive outright titles. Bobby Bowden’s Florida State
squads earned at least a share of the ACC title in nine
straight seasons across the 1992-2000 campaigns but
never earned four outright titles in a row. Clemson would
be the first Power Five team to win four consecutive
conference title games since Florida rattled off four
straight SEC Championship Game wins from 1993-96.
The Clemson senior class enters the contest with an
ACC-record 52 career wins. Featured among that group
is defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, who is expected to
play in his 57th career game on Saturday, which would
tie fullback Chad Diehl (57 from 2007-11) for the most
career games played in school history.
Pittsburgh is the last ACC team to defeat Clemson,
having beaten the Tigers, 43-42, in 2016. With a win
over Pittsburgh, Clemson would end a two-game losing
streak to Pitt and have an active winning streak of at
least one game against all 13 other ACC institutions.
The game will be played on the 10th anniversary
of Dabo Swinney being named as Clemson’s full-time
head coach on Dec. 1, 2008. Clemson is 113-30 under
Swinney, including a 109-27 mark in his 10 full seasons.