There's really no denying it now.
The upcoming showdown between the Clemson Tigers and Florida State Seminoles next Saturday will be the biggest regular-season game in ACC history.
"In terms of ranking, prestige of the programs and what's at stake, I think it probably is," said Jim Young, editor of ACCsports.com. "They're both big dogs. They've both won ACC titles in the last two years. They've both beaten each other the last two years. So I think that adds an element to it. We know they can both beat each other and I think that adds to the atmosphere."
The Tigers are ranked No. 4 in the country and the Seminoles are No. 5, making their matchup just the third matchup of ACC teams with both in the top 5 of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
In 1997, No. 2 Florida State beat No. 5 North Carolina 20-3 in Chapel Hill. And in 2005, No. 5 Miami (Fla.) won at No. 3 Virginia Tech 27-7.
Besides the benefit of hindsight, which lets us know that neither of the other games wound up deciding who played in the national championship game, there is another dynamic to Saturday's game the other Top 5 showdowns couldn't match: star power.
Not only are both teams loaded with future NFL draft picks, but Florida State and Clemson have quarterbacks who are very much in contention for the Heisman Trophy.
"You've got that element," Young said. "It's sort of like that NBA style of marketing: Michael Jordan and the Bulls go against … well, here you've got Jameis Winston and the Florida State Seminoles go against Tajh Boyd and the Clemson Tigers. That is an extra element to it. Not only do you have national-title implications, one of the best stadiums (in the country), but you've got two Heisman Trophy contenders going into the game."
David Glenn has been covering the ACC since 1987. He has a syndicated daily radio show in North Carolina and is publisher of the ACC Sports Journal. When he was asked about the biggest game in conference history he immediately brought up the 1981 game between No. 3 Clemson and No. 9 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
The Tigers wound up knocking off the Tar Heels and eventually won the national championship. But as Glenn pointed out, the difference is that both teams in this game still have a shot to play for a title.
"I'll put it this way," Glenn said. "I don't recall a game between two national championship contenders, involving two Heisman contenders, in the regular season between ACC teams like we have with Clemson and Florida State. I don't recall that happening in my 25 years covering the league."
There has been nothing quite like what's about to happen in Clemson.
Considering the rankings and the ramifications Saturday's showdown in Death Valley will quite literally be the conference's Game of the Century.
ESPN announced late Saturday that College GameDay will broadcast live from Clemson before the game.
"ACC football is in the right kind of headlines for the right kind of reasons," Glenn said. "We have gone almost the entirety of this century being irrelevant to the national conversation, at least from the midseason through the end of the season. And that's painful. That's borderline embarrassing.
"So this game represents many reasons for the ACC to do what it's not been able to do, which is to be part of the national championship conversation relatively late in the season."
And that's good news for everyone involved in the ACC, most notably Commissioner John Swofford.
"These are two excellent teams and programs and both have tremendous history and tradition, as well as great fan support," Swofford said. "Anytime you can have an ACC Top 10 matchup within the league it's a real plus for those programs as well as for the entire conference.
"It should be a great atmosphere on a national stage."
Corey Clark also writes for The Tallahassee Democrat.
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