Why Tiger Burn is this week ... and not next week before USC-Clemson football game
A University of South Carolina tradition is taking place a little earlier than normal this year.
Tiger Burn, the on-campus pep rally to get students excited for the USC-Clemson football game, will be held this Wednesday (Nov. 20), three days before the Gamecocks play Wofford. That’s a change from the usual date for the event, which is typically the Monday of the same week of the Clemson game (Nov. 25 this year).
And that’s largely in part to a change in USC’s fall academic calendar.
There’s no class for USC students next week for Thanksgiving break. USC students historically are in class Monday and Tuesday, then get the rest of the week off.
This year, students are off Monday through Friday.
South Carolina football first hosts Wofford this Saturday before traveling to Death Valley next weekend (Nov. 30) for the annual rivalry game.
Rather than scrap the Tiger Burn tradition — and rather than hold it Monday to a mostly empty campus — USC event organizers moved the date. This year’s pep rally takes place at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the athletic field beside the Blatt PE Center.
“This year’s tiger is a towering 20-foot structure, showcasing intricate designs and embodying the hard work of USC’s engineering students,” according to an article published this month on USC’s website.
Clemson students aren’t off until Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, so the Tigers’ own pre-Carolina game tradition will happen as normal. The Cocky’s Funeral pep rally for 2024 will be 7 p.m. Monday Nov. 25 at the campus amphitheater.
