USC beating Clemson in the national title game? Darius Rucker would love to see it

A Clemson-South Carolina national championship game, with a win by the Gamecocks? It would be the “ultimate” day for Gamecocks fans, USC alumnus Darius Rucker said during a recent interview.

The Hootie & the Blowfish frontman was featured Tuesday night on the SEC Network’s “Homecoming,” which follows famous alumni of SEC schools returning to their stomping grounds.

At one point during the show, host Paul Finebaum was talking with the entire crew of “Hootie,” which they formed while students at USC.

“If you could create the ultimate championship, the ultimate day for a Gamecock fan, what would it be?” Finebaum asked.

Rucker responded.

“We beat Clemson,” he said. “We lose one game, but we beat Clemson, we beat Alabama for the SEC Championship and then we beat Clemson again for the national championship. That would be so awesome!”

“Yeah, I might call it a day after that,” he said later while laughing with his bandmates.

In another part of the episode, Rucker and Finebaum are walking on the field at Williams-Brice Stadium when Finebaum asked what Rucker’s best memory was in that stadium. His answer: The Gamecocks’ 2010 upset of then-No. 1 Alabama.

“Beating the No. 1 team in the country — that will always be something in Gamecock history,” Rucker said. “That was just a great day. They played the perfect game that day. Stephen Garcia played like a Heisman Trophy winner that day.”

In December, the band announced a reunion tour for this year that will conclude with two performances in Columbia the weekend that South Carolina hosts Alabama for the first time since that 2010 game.

The episode is part of a lineup on ESPN platforms commemorating Black History Month, which lasts throughout February, according to a release from ESPN. It will re-air at 1 p.m. Sunday on the SEC Network.

This story was originally published February 6, 2019 at 2:44 PM.