What the world looked the last time Clemson reached the Elite Eight
The Tigers’ win over the No. 2 seed Wildcats marked the highest-seeded opponent they’ve ever defeated in the NCAA tournament.
Clemson was led by Chase Hunter, who had 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. He joined Gabe DeVoe (2018) as the only Clemson players with three straight 15-point games in the NCAA tournament, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Hunter had a clutch and-1 layup to extend the Tigers’ lead late in the second half.
Clemson’s only other Elite Eight appearance in the men’s tournament came in 1980, when it lost to 8-seed UCLA. The Tigers were also the 6-seed in the West Region then.
They will face No. 4 seed Alabama on Saturday.
Here’s a look back at the last time the Tigers reached the Elite Eight: March 13, 1980.
Queen’s first hit song, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” dominated the charts in the early 1980s. The song spent four weeks at No. 1 and 22 total weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.
Lead singer Freddie Mercury wrote the song as a tribute to Elvis Presley “in a way,” Queen’s lead guitarist Brian May said.
The Steelers beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV on Jan. 20, 1980. Pittsburgh’s win not only resulted in its fourth Super Bowl victory, but capped its second set of back-to-back championships.
Quarterback Terry Bradshaw led the Steelers with 309 passing yards and two touchdowns, and also threw three interceptions. Pittsburgh running back Franco Harris added two scores on the ground and 46 rushing yards. Receivers John Stallworth (121 receiving yards) and Lynn Swann (79) each scored a touchdown.
The hit 1980s show “Dallas” became known for its cliffhangers. Its third-season finale, titled “A House Divided” — arguably its most memorable episode — aired March 21, 1980. The episode ended with the shooting of character J.R. Ewing, sparking an eight-month debate over who committed the act.
In his 2011 memoir, Larry Hagman, who played J.R., recalled Queen Elizabeth II’s mother asked him at her 80th birthday celebration if he could tell her who shot his character. Hagman told her: “Not even for you, ma’am.” While running for his second term, Jimmy Carter joked at a Dallas fundraiser: “I came to Dallas to find out confidentially who shot J.R.”
“Dallas” reaped the benefits of its cliffhanger tactic. The Season 4 premiere, titled “Who Done It,” aired on November 21, 1980, and became the highest-rated TV episode in American history until the “M*A*S*H” series finale in 1983.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the invention of the Rubik’s Cube, then known as the Magic Cube. Hungarian architecture professor Ernő Rubik invented the cube to teach his students about three-dimensional shapes.
In 1980, he renamed it as the “Rubik’s Cube” when he began sharing it at toy fairs globally and as it hit store shelves. Within two years, it reached one million sales. The toy with 43 quintillion possible combinations had sold more than 350 million editions worldwide as of 2020.
The top pick in the 1979 NBA draft paid dividends in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Johnson had 14 points, 16 rebounds, 7 steals and 6 assists in a game one day before Clemson reached the Elite Eight. He recorded a triple-double four days later, the sixth of his rookie campaign.
Johnson wound up winning Rookie of the Year and helped the Lakers win the 1979-80 NBA championship.