Lost its luster?

CLEMSON - Some South Carolina fans suggest the Gamecocks and Georgia play in the ACC title game Saturday. After all, they say, those Southeastern Conference teams deserve to play for a BCS bowl berth having defeated the ACC's divisional champs.

Some less radical pose this question: Does the defeat of the Tigers and Yellow Jackets versus their SEC rivals diminish Saturday's title game?

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said no one was talking about the SEC's stature being diminished when Clemson beat South Carolina, and Georgia Tech beat Georgia last season. The counter argument goes something like this: South Carolina and Georgia weren't division champions.

"We've played six SEC teams since I've been here, and I think we're four and two," Johnson said. "I can tell you Clemson has got players every bit as good as Georgia. Don't think for one minute they don't. It is what it is.

"And if you go back and look, Virginia Tech beat Nebraska; does that diminish the Big 12 championship game? Wake Forest beat Stanford; what does that say about the Pac-10? You could go through every league if you wanted to make a case."

The losses certainly won't help steer more viewers to Saturday's 8 p.m. title game, which will be competing with the Big 12's title game featuring Heisman hopeful Colt McCoy leading undefeated Texas against Nebraska.

It also doesn't help that C.J. Spiller's Heisman campaign has effectively ended.

Still, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said if the Tigers pick up their first conference title in 18 years Saturday, it will not be tarnished.

Swinney defended the ACC after Saturday's loss saying the conference went 6-4 against the SEC last season and has produced more NFL draft picks than the SEC in recent seasons.

Still, Florida's Urban Meyer could retaliate by simply holding out his left hand to flash two national championship rings like he did in a recent ESPN commercial.

"No I don't worry about that at all," Swinney said of the SEC vs. ACC talk. "The SEC is a great conference, so is the ACC. I can assure you if you line up to play an SEC or an ACC team, you'd better bring your 'A' game because if you don't you're going to get beat. It's two good leagues and obviously it's year to year.

"It kind of goes back and forth."

The ACC has been waiting awhile for the pendulum of fortune to swing back.

The SEC has won three straight national titles. The last ACC team to win a national title was Florida State in 1999. Moreover, the ACC hasn't earned a BCS at-large berth since the system began in 1998-99.

All time, Georgia Tech is 201-207-24 against SEC teams.

Clemson is 111-159-4.

The perception is there is a clear divide in competitiveness between the two conferences. Only Pittsburgh ranks lower amongst power-conference, two-loss teams in the Top 25 than Georgia Tech (12). Two-loss teams Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State and Iowa all rank higher than Georgia Tech.

And No. 25 Clemson fell 10 spots in the poll after Saturday's loss. The Tigers are two slots below the only other four-loss team in the Top 25, Stanford.

What it means? Come January, Saturday's winner will still have something to prove.

Reach Travis Sawchik at tsawchik@postandcourier.com and check out his Clemson blog at www.postandcourier.com/blogs/tiger_tracks.