Ohio State Has One Final Fight With Clemson Before Sugar Bowl

If you thought the beefing between Clemson and Ohio State would end on New Year's Eve as the teams made their final preparations for their Final Four matchup at the Sugar Bowl (Clemson -7.5, 66.5 O/U at FanDuel), you'd be wrong. This time, the issue relates to COVID testing protocols. Clemson ended its COVID testing on Wednesday while Ohio State had to go through another round of testing Thursday.

Instead of answering questions about how he was feeling about the final preparations, OSU head coach Ryan Day spent part of his Thursday press conference dealing with the differences in COVID protocols between the two schools. “I think that’s a unique situation that we don’t have the same protocols going into the game, but I’m not gonna spend time thinking about that. I’m tired of that,” Day said. “As long as the guys are healthy playing in the game, that’s what matters,” Day said during his Zoom press conference.

Day wouldn't say if his team will be at full strength. He calls full strength a "floating target right now" because of guys coming back from previous COVID issues.

Meanwhile, Clemson will be without offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and two players.

During his final media availability, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said, “I think everybody’s here except, I think, we had two guys that didn’t make the trip, one walk-on and one scholarship player that are just unavailable. But everybody else is here, even our injured guys and things like that.”

While Day is frustrated with the differing testing protocols for Clemson and Ohio State, Buckeyes fans are in disbelief over the lack of Clemson casualties due to Elliott's close contacts. This appears to be a hill Ohio State fans will die on if things go really bad when they face Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne.