CLEMSON — Earlier this week, Clemson senior associate athletic director Dwight Rainey said in not so many words that Clemson football fans will be thrilled by who the school replaced Pittsburgh with on its football schedule for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

Thrilled is probably not the best way to describe it. Tiger fans are probably elated to learn Clemson will now be facing the Auburn Tigers.

The school officially announced Thursday the two schools will be playing a home-and-home series starting in 2010 with the first game at Auburn and the second one in Clemson.

“The two-game series with Auburn will certainly be exciting for our fans and our players,” Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said. “I have coached at Auburn (1991-96), so I know how intense their fans are when it comes to their football program.

“There really are a lot of similarities in the two schools. I am sure it will be a series that will be nationally televised and bring considerable exposure to both programs.”

“This will be the first time the two teams have met on the gridiron since the January 2, 1998 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Auburn won that contest 21-17 in the Georgia Dome thanks to a fourth-quarter comeback.

Terry Bowden, the brother of Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden, was the head coach at Auburn for that game.

“Many times when future non-conference games are announced, they are long off on the calendar,” Bowden said. “But, the freshmen on our team this year will play in that 2010 game at Auburn when they are seniors, and if they red-shirt they will play in both games.”

The two schools have not met in the regular season since a 35-13 Auburn victory at Auburn in 1971. Overall, Auburn has a 32-11-2 advantage in the series that dates to the 1899 season. Clemson defeated Auburn in 1948 and 1950 during unbeaten Clemson seasons under Frank Howard.

Clemson has now scheduled home-and-home non-conference series with five SEC schools over the next nine years. In addition to Clemson’s annual contests with South Carolina, Clemson will meet Auburn in 2010 and 2011, Vanderbilt in 2012 and 2013, Georgia in 2013 and 2014 and Mississippi in 2015 and 2016.

Tentative Clemson Future Non-Conference Opponents

Year – Opponents

2008 - Citadel (H), Central Florida (H), vs. Louisiana Tech (at Shreveport), South Carolina (H)

2009 - Louisiana Tech (H), Middle Tennessee (H), Central Michigan (H), at South Carolina

2010 - at Auburn, South Carolina (H)

2011 - Auburn (H), at South Carolina

2012 - at Vanderbilt, South Carolina (H)

2013 - Vanderbilt (H), Georgia (H), at South Carolina

2014 - at Georgia, South Carolina (H)

2015 - Mississippi (H), at South Carolina

2016 - at Mississippi, South Carolina (H)

Clemson Future ACC Opponents

2008

Home - Maryland, NC State, Georgia Tech, Duke

Away - Wake Forest, Florida State, Boston College, Virginia

2009

Home - Wake Forest, Florida State, Boston College, Virginia

Away - Maryland, NC State, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL)

2010

Home - Maryland, NC State, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL)

Away - Wake Forest, Florida State, Boston College, North Carolina

2011

Home - Wake Forest, Florida State, Boston College, North Carolina

Away - Maryland, NC State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech

2012

Home - Maryland, NC State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech

Away - Wake Forest, Florida State, Boston College, Duke

2013

Home - Wake Forest, Florida State, Boston College, Duke

Away - Maryland, NC State, Georgia Tech, Virginia

ACC Teams Who Do Not Play Clemson by Year

2008 – Miami (FL), North Carolina, Virginia Tech

2009 – North Carolina, Duke, Virginia Tech

2010 – Virginia Tech, Duke, Virginia

2011 – Virginia, Miami (FL), Duke

2012 – North Carolina, Virginia, Miami (FL)

2013 – Miami (FL), North Carolina, Virginia Tech

Academic accolades. The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its 10-member All-ACC Academic men’s basketball team on Thursday, and Clemson had a league-best three of the 10 players on the team, led by second-time honoree Cliff Hammonds.

It marks the most All-Academic selections for the Tiger program since the 1983-84 team placed four on the squad. Matt Morris and A.J. Tyler were the others to make the squad.

Hammonds was named to the Dean’s List in the spring semester and boasts over a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average in architecture and psychology. He was fourth on the Tiger squad this season in scoring with 11.6 points per game and also ranked second in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.49). He is a veteran of 100 career games and last season became just the 15th junior in school history to reach 1,000 career points.

Hammonds was an All-ACC Academic selection as a freshman in 2004-05. He is the 10th player in school history to earn the honor on more than one occasion. Hammonds is currently in training camp with Athletes in Action and will be headed to Taiwan this weekend to compete with the U.S. team in the 2007 Jones Cup.

Morris, a marketing major, was also named to the team. The rising senior from Georgetown appeared in 21 games this past season and scored 11 points in a win over Western Carolina. He also posted eight in an ACC road game at Boston College. Morris has scored 57 points in his three-year career, most by any Tiger walk-on in the last 35 years.

A.J. Tyler, a freshman who transferred following the season, was the Tigers’ third selection to the All-ACC Academic team. He averaged 1.2 points and 1.4 rebounds per game and appeared in 30 contests in his lone season with the program.

Homer. Rising sophomore basketball player Karolis Petrukonis will compete for his home country Lithuania at the Under 20 European Championships from July 6-15. The competition will be held in two different locations, Nova Gorica, Slovenia and Gorizia, Italy.

Lithuania will play in Division A of the event. Their first game will be July 6 against Turkey in Group B. Petrukonis and his teammates will then play Russia and Greece the following two days to complete the preliminary round robin action. The qualifying round games will be determined by countries’ records in the preliminary round.

Petrukonis already has international experience under his belt. Last summer, the 6-11 center played with Lithuania in the 18 and under European Championships. In 2005, he was an all-tournament selection at the 19 and under Nike World Juniors in France.

Petrukonis, who played high school basketball in the U.S. at the Norfolk Collegiate School (VA), played in 13 games as a true freshman in 2006-07. In his first-ever game as a Tiger, he scored four points and collected two steals and a blocked shot in just eight minutes versus Arkansas State. He is one of 11 returning lettermen for Oliver Purnell's squad in 2007-08.