Pointless Preview: Clemson and 'Bama Square Off With the Future of the ACC at Stake

If you are an ACC fan, there are hard times coming, friend. Virginia Tech has already fallen to ECU, Virginia "might" not be able to come back from a 21-0 opening whistle deficit to Southern Cal, and NC State doesn't have an offense!

Miami could be sneaky (which is depressing enough on it's own) and there's a very real chance that the ACC Championship Game could be between Wake Forest and North Carolina. I am not joking at all.

Fortunately, Clemson is still alive. For now. At 8 o' clock p.m. (Eastern Standard Time, natch) the Tigers will square off against Alabama in a preseason top 25 matchup that may very well determine the fate of the ACC for the foreseeable future.

Okay, that's hyperbole. Kind of. James Davis and C.J. Spiller are a deadly combination of lightning/thunder that should have the Tigers in a BCS game, but unfortunately, Tommy Bowden has a bad habit of spending most of November trying to figure out if it's plausible to chokeslam oneself.

On the other side of things, we have Nick Saban. I could write lengthily about why his team could, despite going 0-4 out the door last year, dominate this year. However, it seems more important to note that he may, in fact, be Beelzebub. But that's also been covered and probably explains his no-contact order with the city of Miami.

Another thing Clemson should do is win this game -- they have a stifling defense and with Cullen Harper and the aforementioned L/T combo, their offense is most certainly potent. It doesn't hurt that while the Tide has decent defense, they're not bringing back everyone from last year.

Of course, in the Battle of the 'Bama Bangs, John Parker Wilson can hold his own. And he's got new receiving talent to help him. So Alabama will score. And Clemson will score more. Plus, it's August.

So despite this game being meaningful, Tommy and crew will pull out a win and save the ACC (from being totally irrelevant this year.)