Today we will preview the #9 Clemson Tigers. This is Clemson's best chance in years to become ACC champions, a title the Tigers once won with regularity. There is no doubt, however, that the Tigers have the best group of talent in the ACC's Atlantic Division, which has about six more contenders for the league title than the weaker Coastal Division. Clemson has the league's top returning quarterback in Cullen Harper; the top returning tailback in James Davis; and the top returning wide receiver in Aaron Kelly. The Tigers know they can't make reservations for a week at Tampa Bay just yet. In each of the last three seasons, the Tigers have had golden opportunities to win the ACC's loaded Atlantic Division and each time they managed to lose games at home to yank those possibilities out from under themselves.

Offensively they are defianely the most talented on paper. James Davis and C.J. Spiller are arguably the best tailback tandem in the nation. Davis eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark for the second straight season and will once again lead the way. Spiller could handle the load on his own, but instead compliments Davis extremely well. At QB senior Cullen Harper is back to see if he can repeat the season he last year. He completed 282 of his 433 passes (65.1 percent) for 2,991 yards. His 27 touchdown passes broke the school record by six, as he guided the highest-scoring offense in school his-tory. He also became the first Clemson quarterback to lead the ACC in passing efficiency in 25 years. Harper earned second-team All-ACC honors, even though he had better overall numbers than ACC Offensive Player of the Year Matt Ryan of Boston College. While opposing defenses worry about stopping Davis and Spiller, the Tigers have also developed a worrisome receiver corps as well. Leading the group is senior Aaron Kelly, who established a school record with 88 receptions last season. He also led the ACC in touchdown receptions with 11. If he has a similar season, Kelly will not only break Clemson's career reception record (at 165 receptions, he needs only three more to do it), he will also break former Wake Forest receiver Desmond Clark's ACC record of 216 career catches. With two more touchdown passes, Kelly will break the Clemson record for career scoring passes. The old record of 18 was set by Glenn Smith, whose career ended in 1951, making it the longest standing record in the school's books.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers return eight starters to a team that only gave up 18.7 points per game and 306.8 yards per game. The pass defense was amazing last year and corners Crezdon Butler and Chris Chancellor and safeties Chris Clemons and Michael Hamlin are all back to claim their starting positions. Two of last year's starting linebackers, tackle leader Nick Watkins and Tramaine Billie, completed their eligibility, and two more, Antonio Clay and Kortney Vincent, left the program for reasons other than football. So Bowden had only five linebackers to rotate through spring practice, but he found three new starters in Scotty Cooper, Brandon Maye and Kavell Conner. He will look for depth in preseason drills. Bowden has a lot of young talent that shoul fill in for departing players!! Look for Defense to put up top numbers in this conference.

We've seen this scenario before: Clemson is loaded with talent, the rest of the league is somewhat down and the opportunity is ripe to end that 16-year ACC championship drought. Bowden, heading into his 10th season, has been alternately vilified and praised during his tenure, but the fact is he has put his team in position to get there the last three years. The other side of that coin, of course, is that Bowden's team has blown three golden shots to reach the title game. Bowden could finally worm his way into the hearts of his most vocal critics if he could get over that hump, returning the ACC championship to Death Valley and finally securing a bid to a Bowl Championship Series game. He has the talent, the experience and the depth to do it this year, and he knows it. But it's hard to erase the memories of those crucial losses that have prevented the Tigers from getting there before. Look for this team to win 10 games and the ACC crown this year. BCS title game probally is out of there reach but a BCS bowl game would be welcome around the Clemson campus!!

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