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COLUMBIA (WACH) - Carolina and Clemson are about to meet for the 109th time, in one of the longest rivalries in college football. 

Some wonder if the so called Palmetto State Championship game has lost some of its luster.  Mike Safran is not among them.

"The stadiums have gotten bigger so more people have gotten involved in it, but when the stadiums were smaller, everyone was glued to the radio and listening to the ball game.”

Safran owns an antique store in Columbia, full of memorabilia from when the series was called “Big Thursday” and the annual game was a can’t miss event.

Decades later, the stakes are still high in one of the longest uninterrupted series in college football.

"Honestly, it might have been a little bit bigger for South Carolina when South Carolina was independent, and that was the one game of the year,” said Gamecocks Coach Steve Spurrier.
 
"It's about these four quarters and this is a big, big game,” adds Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney, whose team will play in the ACC Championship game next month.

Safran doesn’t think post season conference title games are taking the luster off this game this year.

"I don't think it's diminished at all.  I think it's the bragging rights of who gets to crow or roar for the next year."

This year both teams enter the game with identical records, 9-2.  That's the most wins heading into this game for both teams since the series started in 1896.