Can Tommy's Tigers unseat his daddy's 'Noles?

For the 10th straight year a Bowden should win the ACC, but this year it may not be Bobby.

Tommy Bowden, the second son of national champion Florida State Seminoles football coach Bobby Bowden, has become the latest coach to move his team into a position to topple the perennial ACC champions. Unbeknownst to most, the Clemson Tigers were the last team, aside from Florida State, to win an outright ACC football title.

A decade later, the Tigers are bidding to become the other beacon of light in the dark sport of ACC football, but to do that, Tommy will have to do something he has failed to do every time thus far. He must beat his dad.

Last year in South Carolina, the Seminoles had their biggest scare on their title trail when they only beat a mediocre Clemson team 17-14. This year, the two teams do not meet until the 10th game of the season. For Tommy, winning against his dad will be even tougher in 2000 when Nov. 11 rolls around-he has to beat Florida State in Tallahassee, something that has never been done in ACC play.

Tommy will admit that the prospect of playing his dad for the ACC title does interest him, especially if both teams were to come into the battle 9-0, but right now he says his main focus is getting Clemson back to finishing in the top 25 for the first time in seven years.

"I think finishing in the top 25 would be a realistic goal," he said. "A lot of people are talking about winning nine or 10, or going to the [Bowl Championship Series]. But to me, when you haven't finished in the top 25 in seven years, that would be a realistic [goal to start with]."

Most reporters, however, are expecting far more than the top 25 out of the Tigers. The defense that held last year's top-ranked offense to its lowest point total of the season returns eight starters, including Keith Adams arguably the nation's top defender. Moreover, Clemson's offense has been revitalized and its quarterbacks love to run.

It's no wonder the Tigers haven't been picked much below the top 15 and by some well into the top 10.

But being marked should not bother Bobby Bowden too much. He hasn't entered the season below the top five in a decade and, with nine straight ACC titles, he has little reason to give the rest of the ACC much thought. That even includes the Tigers, picked second in the ACC preseason polls.

"From what I've seen that could be true," he said. "They need to stay healthy. I don't think [Tommy] has enough depth to survive the injuries."

Another factor in the primetime match-up of early November could be the Tigers' lack of rest going into the game. Clemson does not have its bye week until after Florida State, so they won't have the luxurious advantage of being able to grab a week of rest the way the Seminoles do.

However, Clemson fans-and much of the rest of the ACC-are hoping the Tigers improve on last year's match-up. With a win, Clemson would have a good chance of an undefeated regular season in Tommy's second year as coach. Last time Tommy was in his second year coaching a team, he took the Tulane Greenwaves out of nowhere and into the top 10 with an 11-0 record and a bowl victory.

Tigers fans are now counting on that type of result in Death Valley.

Whether or not a Bowden can go undefeated for a third straight year is yet to be seen, but one thing's for sure, both father and son care far more about the hype than they will admit. When asked at a July ACC press conference in Hot Springs, Va., if either of them read what the press prints about them, Tommy laughed and nodded across the room at his father.

"That man spends $1,000 buying them magazines. He reads only good things cause he's number one in every one of them."

That may change come Nov. 11.