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Monday’s announcement of November 22nd’s kickoff times came with a surprise. Furman’s game with Clemson received The CW’s ACC selection for the week.
This marks the third consecutive year that a Southern Conference school will appear on The CW. In 2023, VMI’s game with NC State had 205,000 viewers, and The Citadel appeared on The CW last year against Clemson with an undisclosed number of viewers.
Saturday’s Furman-Clemson game marks the third time one of the five major broadcast (antenna) networks has aired a Furman game. Keep in mind, this total does not include the Southern Conference’s longtime syndication package.
In 1978, ABC aired Furman’s game against the defending Southern Conference champion Chattanooga. The game aired as part of a regional slate that included Winston-Salem State-Elizabeth City State, Arkansas-Texas, Purdue-Illinois, Tennessee State-Florida A&M, and Eastern Kentucky-Western Kentucky as a lead-in to the nationally-televised Cal-UCLA game.
The matchup fulfilled ABC’s obligation to air one Southern Conference game and netted the schools $50,000, $242,026.83, when adjusted for today’s inflation. The regional audience saw a sloppy 13-9 win for Chattanooga, powered by six Furman turnovers. The loss prevented Furman from winning the Southern Conference outright, as the two teams shared that year’s title.
Two years later, Furman made a prompt return to ABC’s airwaves when the network selected its game with Appalachian State to air regionally. It was part of a massive regional doubleheader of nine games. At 12:35 PM ET, ABC aired Memphis-Florida State, Missouri-Kansas State, and Illinois-Michigan, Maryland-Duke, Dartmouth-Cornell, and Grambling-Jackson State. Furman-Appalachian State aired in the 3:45 PM slot alongside Navy-Washington and UMass-Boston University.
Furman and Appalachian State received $36,000 for their appearance, $137,886.79, when adjusted for today’s inflation. Furman’s Steve Bishop ran for 154 yards on 25 carries to give the Paladins a 21-20 win over the Mountaineers. The win highlighted a 9-1-1 season for Furman that saw them win the Southern Conference outright with a 7-0 league record.
Saturday’s Clemson-Furman game is a moment over four decades in the making. The Paladins not only have the opportunity to beat Clemson for the first time since the Great Depression, but in front of one of their largest TV audiences ever.
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