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CLEMSON, South Carolina (Ticker) -- This is the Bowden Bowl. It will be father against son when Bobby Bowden's top-ranked Florida State team visits Memorial Stadium to battle Clemson and Tommy Bowden in an Atlantic Coast Conference game nearly 11 months in the making. Bobby Bowden has been a staple in college football since 1970, his first season as coach at West Virginia. Six years later he arrived at Florida State (7-0, 5-0 ACC) and has overseen one of the sport's most dominant programs. Tommy Bowden had been an assistant at Florida State, Auburn, Duke, Alabama and Kentucky before assuming the head role at Tulane in 1997. He guided the Green Wave to an unbeaten regular season in 1998 before taking over at Clemson (3-3, 3-1) on December 2. The Green Wave went on to complete their undefeated campaign by beating Brigham Young in the Liberty Bowl, while the younger Bowden began a rebuilding job with the Tigers, who had just concluded a 3-8 season. Slowly but surely, Tommy Bowden has begun to turn around the Tigers, who are the owners of key ACC victories over Virginia and North Carolina and come off last weekend's 42-30 win over Maryland. Starting quarterback Brandon Streeter was lost for the season due to a broken collarbone, but sophomore William Dantzler has stepped in admirably. Datzler completed 16-of-23 passes for 252 yards and ran for 183 yards on 22 carries against Maryland. For Bobby Bowden, this is a landmark game in more ways than one. In addition to coaching against his son, the elder Bowden will be going for his 300th career win. He is 299-85-4, including 226-53-4 at Tallahassee. The Seminoles have been the No. 1 team in the nation since the season kicked off and appear headed for the Sugar Bowl to play for the national championship, although there are some road blocks along the way. Florida State likely will without star wide receiver Peter Warrick, who is dealing with felony theft charges. Senior Germaine Stringer picked up the slack in last weekend's 33-10 victory over Wake Forest, catching three passes for 80 yards. The Seminoles have won seven straight over the Tigers dating to a 34-23 loss in 1989 and lead the all-time series, 10-2.
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