Clemson–South Carolina rivalry

The Clemson–South Carolina rivalry is an American collegiate athletic rivalry between the Clemson University Tigers and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, the two largest universities in the state of South Carolina. Since 2015, the two compete in the Palmetto Series, which consists of more than a dozen athletic, head-to-head matchups each school year. The all-sport series has been won by South Carolina each year. Both institutions are public universities supported by the state, and their campuses are separated by only 132 miles. South Carolina and Clemson have been bitter rivals since 1896, and a heated rivalry continues to this day for a variety of reasons, including the historic tensions regarding their respective charters and the passions surrounding their athletic programs. It has often been listed as one of the best rivalries in college sports.

Much like the Alabama–Auburn rivalry, the Clemson–Carolina rivalry is an in-state collegiate rivalry. However, unlike Alabama–Auburn, this is one of a handful of rivalries where the teams are in different premier conferences: South Carolina is in the Southeastern Conference (SEC); Clemson is in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

The annual football game is considered the most important sporting event in the state. It was played first in 1896 and every year from 1909 to 2019, one of the longest uninterrupted rivalries in college football history. Until 1959, the game was played during the State Fair in Columbia, on "Big Thursday", a state holiday. Since 1960, the two schools have alternated hosting on Saturdays. In 2014, the annual football game was officially dubbed the Palmetto Bowl. As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 meeting of the two football teams was canceled, ending an unbroken streak of 111 years of games. The game has never been contested anywhere besides Columbia or Clemson. Clemson leads the series 73–43–4, and won the most recent game with a score of 16–7.