Trophy Textile Bowl All-time series Clemson leads, 56–28–1 | Meetings total 85 | |
First meeting 1899Clemson 24, NC State 0 Latest meeting October 15, 2016Clemson 24, NC State 17 (OT) | ||
The Textile Bowl is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Clemson Tigers football team of Clemson University and the NC State Wolfpack football team of North Carolina State University. The rivalry game has been known as the Textile Bowl since 1981. The two universities are founding members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and both have competed in the ACC's Atlantic Division since the conference initiated divisional play. The rivalry's name is derived from the fact that Clemson and North Carolina State have two of the largest university-level textile schools in the world, and from the textile industry's historic importance in the economic development of their respective states of South Carolina and North Carolina.
The rivalry is usually considered good-natured due to how similar the two universities are in terms of mission, academics, and fans. The rivalry has been played annually since 1971.
In the days and weeks leading up to the game each year, both universities host special programs and events promoting each other's textile programs. In recent years, students from Clemson go on visits of the North Carolina State campus in Raleigh, NC and vice versa.
Even though the rivalry has lost some luster at the national level, compared to NC State's local rivalries with the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils and Clemson's rivalries with the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, it still holds a lot of significance for alumni and for the communities surrounding the colleges.