Can they host?

After Clemson's baseball players received their ritual dousing of beer (and who knows what else) from the "Cheap Seats" crew following Saturday's division-clinching win over Florida State, they all walked within a few feet of us reporter types on their way back to the dugout.

The dedicated folks in the Cheap Seats, perched just above the fence in far right field, are good people. Their name also fits perfectly given the apparent choice of beer they chose to discharge onto the players.

My first thought was Milwaukee's Best, based on four college years (make that five college years) of scrounging up the four bucks it cost for 12-packs.

Or maybe they chose to Pabst-ise the Tigers to commemorate the Atlantic Division title.

Had to be one of the two. Or both.

Anyway, it was easy to wonder during the celebration whether the Tigers have a shot at returning to Doug Kingsmore for more baseball this season.

I think they do have a chance. Or at least they should have a chance.

Probably premature to start seriously discussing this, because the Tigers could slip in the ACC Tournament and their regional hosting chances would fly out the window.

But if Clemson stays hot in Greensboro and wins the whole thing, or even simply gets to the championship game, Jack Leggett's squad will have a good case.

As bad as this bunch looked in a series loss at Wake Forest, those were the only two losses the Tigers have suffered in the last 14 games. They have a good RPI. And Clemson could offer a good guarantee based on the certainty of sizable crowds at Doug Kingsmore.

The most common and realistic argument you hear against Clemson's chances is that there's no way the NCAA would award three host sites to South Carolina schools (Coastal Carolina and South Carolina are penciled in at this point).

But how fair would that criteria be? Not very, if you look at recent history.

In four of the last five NCAA Tournaments, a state has landed three hosts:

2009: Texas, TCU, Rice
2008: Long Beach, Stanford, Fullerton
2007: Texas, Texas A&M, Rice
2005: Miami, Florida, Florida State

Yes, those three states (Texas, California, Florida) are much larger than the little old Palmetto State. But would that argument hold up if Clemson leaves Greensboro as the ACC champ?

Don't think so.

Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail eats some crow. Join the crowd, hoss.

Here's the view of Clemson's sweep from Florida State's side of things.

Bart Wright isn't particularly optimistic about the team that drafted C.J. Spiller. How can you be when this guy is running the show:


Looks like the academics vs. athletics battle doesn't rage merely at powerhouses. Add Navy to the mix, too.

Meanwhile, the academy’s former pursuit of excellence seems to have been pushed aside by the all-consuming desire to beat Notre Dame at football (as Navy did last year). To keep our teams in the top divisions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, we fill officer-candidate slots with students who have been recruited primarily for their skills at big-time sports. That means we reject candidates with much higher predictors of military success (and, yes, athletic skills that are more pertinent to military service) in favor of players who, according to many midshipmen who speak candidly to me, often have little commitment to the military itself.

It’s no surprise that recruited athletes have been at the center of recent scandals, including a linebacker who was convicted of indecent assault on a female midshipman in 2007 and a quarterback who was accused of rape and dismissed from the academy for sexual misconduct in 2006. Sports stars are flattered on campus, avoid many of the onerous duties other midshipmen must perform, and know they’re not going to be thrown out. Instead of zero tolerance, we now push for zero attrition: we “remediate” honor code offenses.

Andy Staples of SI.com says the Big Ten can learn from the failed 16-team WAC experiment.

Excellent feature here on Brad Brownell in the Independent-Mail.

In Alabama, a candidate for governor -- who happens to be an Auburn grad -- jokes about cutting Nick Saban's salary and catches ... a little bit of heat.


LW