College baseball needs good rivalries, and Clemson already has what many consider to be the best in the sport with in-state rival South Carolina.
Earlier this year, Clemson head coach Erik Bakich called the Palmetto Series “the best rivalry in college baseball.”
I’m inclined to agree.
On Thursday of this week, new South Carolina coach Paul Mainieri added a little more juice to the rivalry when he referenced Clemson at his introductory press conference in Columbia.
Specifically, Mainieri referred to Clemson as “the team up north.” He also took a shot at the Upstate region.
“Being in the midlands is a lot better than being in the Upstate. I can promise you that,” Mainieri quipped.
Shots fired.
Mainieri is no stranger to college baseball rivalries. At LSU, where he won the national championship in the College World Series in 2009, Mainieri and the elite players he recruited made annual rivalries with Ole Miss, Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi State, South Carolina and other SEC programs compelling, must-see TV.
True, Mainieri is no master of the verbal putdown like Steve Spurrier (another former Gamecocks coach). He’s not an acid-tongued former Major League Baseball skipper like the fiery Ozzie Guillen or the late Billy Martin.
But Mainieri is the active leader in career Division I victories (1,505), having spent 15 seasons at LSU and leading the Tigers to the College World Series five times. He twice earned SEC Coach of the Year honors and won four National Coach of the Year awards.
With that comes a big of swagger — and a little jousting at Mainieri’s new in-state rival.
“I had a few dealings with Monte Lee when he was the head coach at Clemson,” Mainieri began before trailing off and making his “team up north” comment.
New South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri already leaning into the rivalry in his intro presser:
"I had a few dealings with Monte Lee when he was the head coach at Clemson …"
Pauses
"Am I allowed to say that? Or should I just say the team up north?"
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) June 13, 2024
Mainieri maintained Lee as his associate head coach after taking the Gamecocks’ job. Lee had been interim coach after South Carolina fired Mark Kingston following the Gamecocks’ season-ending loss to James Madison in the Raleigh Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
Unlike at LSU, Mainieri won’t have an entire state to himself with few, if any, authentic rivalries. No offense to Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana Tech, Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana or even Tulane, but those programs aren’t consistently on the same level as LSU — or Clemson.
That’s why Mainieri’s entrance in the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry (and the subsequent comments he made Thursday) is a good thing for fans and the competitive juices that flow in both the Tigers and Gamecocks programs.
Bakich said that he treats Clemson vs. South Carolina with utmost respect.
“We don’t just start talking about South Carolina this week,” Bakich said when the two programs met for their annual non-conference series in early March. “It’s something that… it’s Clemson-South Carolina. It’s the best in college baseball. I know there’s some other good rivalries out there: Army-Navy, Michigan-Ohio State, but this is the best I’ve seen in college baseball, and it’s not even close.”
With Mainieri’s hiring and digs at Clemson, the best rivalry in college baseball just got even better.
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