"I think the governor would have to declare it a national holiday, right?" Tanner said Tuesday, hours before South Carolina left for its first trip to Rosenblatt Stadium since 1985.

Clemson left earlier Tuesday, giving one of the nation's smallest states a big say in the CWS chase — and adding another intense chapter to a rivalry that has defined the Palmetto State for a century.

The Tigers and Gamecocks share the same bracket. If they both win or both lose openers Friday, they would meet on Sunday. 'I guess we'll be bumping into them sometime," Clemson coach Jack Leggett said.

Gov. Jim Hodges, a huge baseball fan, doesn't plan to close down the state and his schedule prevents him from attending games at Rosenblatt Stadium. "Having a quarter of the teams in the World Series, it's thrilling," Hodges said. "It's like having two teams in the Final Four or a bowl game."

It's statewide headlines when Clemson and South Carolina get to bowls in the same season, let alone win them — which happened for the first time this past winter. Fanatics can count on one hand when the Tigers and Gamecocks have been made the NCAA men's basketball tournament together — 1989, 1997 and 1998.

The two teams both reached the College World Series once before — in 1977 — but didn't face each other.

People in college baseball circles have known how good Clemson and South Carolina have been the past few years. Now, Tanner and Leggett say, the rest of the country gets to see.

"People have said to me, "Don't you wish Clemson wasn't there?' Well, not really," Tanner said. "I think it's a great thing for the state of South Carolina to have two teams there."

Even while Leggett was locked in a tight Game 3 Sunday with Arkansas — the Tigers won 7-4 to advance — the press box and crowd buzzed with updates of South Carolina's five-run ninth-inning rally that knocked out Miami that kept Clemson's coach updated.

"That's the interesting thing in a 64-team tournament," Leggett said. "You're listening for scores, you're looking for who you play."

For Clemson, that's Nebraska on Friday right after South Carolina meets Georgia Tech in the tournament's opening game.

The Tigers go into the CWS as the tournament's second seed, and the highest one left after Notre Dame defeated No. 1 Florida State at their super regional Monday. The favorites role suits the Tigers, said Steve Reba, Clemson's probable starter against the Cornhuskers.

"The last time we were out there, we were satisfied to be there," Reba said of Clemson's 2000 CWS appearance. "Now, we've got some business to care of."

Clemson had South Carolina's number this season, winning three of their four matchups. But the Gamecocks feel like they are well-acquainted with the tournament's highest seed and are confident about their chances in Omaha.

"Why can't we do it? There are a lot of great teams out there," South Carolina shortstop Drew Meyer said. "There's a lot of teams haven't been there in the past. We're going this year. It's going to be fun, it's going to be fun."

Gamecock senior designated hitter Trey Dyson can only imagine what a second-round Gamecocks-Tigers matchup would be like. "There's going to be a ton of fans at Rosenblatt (Stadium) and it's going to be crazy down here too," said Dyson, a senior from Columbia who grew up around the rivalry.

Dyson's teammate, first baseman Yaron Peters, is from Sherman Oaks, Calif., and had little knowledge of either school. "I thought North Carolina was the rival for South Carolina," said Peters, who set the school's single-season record with 28 home runs this year. "I didn't even know Clemson was in the state. But you learn something new every day."