Clemson and South Carolina will not accept bowl bids.

[samikeyp]

Link

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Clemson and South Carolina will not accept bowl bids, punishment for players who brawled toward the end of Saturday's game.

South Carolina athletic director Mike McGee said Monday that the Game s' actions on the field were not consistent with the values and ethics of the school.

"This decision will have a significant financial impact on USC athletics. We will also lose a month of prebowl practice," McGee said. "It was a decision that had to be made."

Clemson athletics director Terry Don Phillips said in a statement the decision isn't fair to the majority of the players.

"But given the cir stances, I believe strongly that it is the right decision so that our university, our student-athletes, supporters and all people that love Clemson know without question what our values are," he said.

The brawl, which broke out with about six minutes left in the game, started when Tigers defensive lineman Bobby Williamson took down South Carolina quarterback Syvelle Newton and appeared to linger too long on top of him.

South Carolina coach Lou Holtz, in his last game after a 33-year career, and Clemson coach Tommy Bowden tried to break up the brawl. Eventually, security and police officers were needed to restore order. Clemson won 29-7.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I don't get the "pre-bowl practice" stuff?

My response to that would be "...and?"

[samikeyp]

you mean that the players will have to..gasp!..study?

[jalbre6]

JB47,

Pre-bowl practice is a very important part of NCAA football. It gives roughly 20 extra sanctioned practices to non-seniors until spring training. Players that are expected to contribute the next season are given extra attention. It's just a better preparation for the next season than non bowl-eligible teams get. As far as South Carolina is concerned, it won't make that big of a difference since Spurrier will probably install a new fun n' gun offense, but they have a lot of returning starters. Clemson will be hurt since Whitehurst has been QB'ing there for a while.