Fun stuck in neutral

CLEMSON — College football is best when the football is played at a college.

For openers, nothing beats the color and pageantry of a campus gone mad.

Elsewhere is OK for bowl games, not as sensible for the regular season.

Not that No. 24 Alabama vs. No. 9 Clemson on Saturday night at Atlanta's Georgia Dome will be anything less than suspenseful. Just watching Nick Saban, a noted dean of defense, match wits with Clemson offensive coordinator Rob Spence probably will be worth your TV time.

The Clemson coaching staff is very wary of Alabama, whose coaching staff has to be nervous about preparing to play as many as nine true freshmen against a lot of proven Tiger talent.

The only thing missing is tailgate parking that isn't in a mega-cement garage.

A neutral site means fewer students will attend and a more costly trip for season-ticket holders.

Of course, it's hard to knock the ABC television exposure and the scheduled presence of ESPN GameDay crew royalty. It certainly won't rain. But it's not like Clemson at Alabama, or Alabama at Clemson, would have lacked for national attention.

Home vs. dome

Tommy Bowden agrees.

"I like Atlanta," the Clemson head coach said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. "Atlanta is my second-favorite city. Clemson is my favorite city."

Bowden said that, ideally, a Clemson football game ought to benefit hotels and restaurants in Clemson.

Or Tuscaloosa, with the proper two-year contract.

"I'd rather have home and away," Bowden said. "That would be my preference."

He was not complaining — I asked the question.

In this case, the basic home-and-home deal apparently wasn't on the table.

Cullen Harper doesn't mind a bit. Clemson's All-America candidate quarterback, one of seven Tigers coming home to the Atlanta area, is from Alpharetta.

"I like it a lot," Harper said of the neutral-site concept for regular-season games. "I know Georgia and Florida do it (in Jacksonville). Alabama and Florida State did it last year (also in Jacksonville). It's neat to kind of get everybody's fans into one location. I think it's cool."

The Tigers should not have any excuses if they lose a game they are favored to win in a building most of them know well; Clemson closed last season with a Chick-fil-A Bowl loss to Auburn.

Made for TV

But maybe with an opener in Tuscaloosa, fewer people would make fun of Clemson's soft schedule.

Or with a game at Clemson, more fans would believe in the possibility of a BCS bowl appearance.

Either way, more total college students would attend the big college football game. And fewer would be walking and drinking than driving and drinking.

Nobody does neutral-site college football any time of year better than the Chick-fil-A Bowl people who are running the Alabama-Clemson game. They have made the pre-game street parade an art form.

Lots of cheerleaders.

Bands.

Helium-filled cows dropping coupons for nuggets and milkshakes.

Did you know Lee Corso will be on hand?

It's a great TV show, no doubt. A reality series set on the campus of a real college or two would be even better.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com.