PICKENS COUNTY — As the Clemson Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks prepare to face each other on the football field, The Blood Connection is preparing for the 37th annual “Blood Bowl” competition between both schools.

This competition, which will take place from November 15 – 19, comes as TBC continues to struggle to collect its daily need of blood donations. TBC is relying on ‘Blood Bowl’ week to bring in the lifesaving blood products needed for local hospitals through the Thanksgiving holiday season.

For the past 35 years, Clemson and UofSC have battled it out to see which school can bring in the most blood donors, in one of the largest collegiate blood drives in the nation. In 2019, both schools collected a combined 4,549 donations. One unit of blood can save up to three lives, equating to more than 13,000 lives potentially impacted by this competition. In 2020, the annual Blood Bowl was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but both universities continued their commitment to supporting their community blood centers by hosting blood drives throughout the year.

For the first year, The Blood Connection (TBC) will host several blood drive locations on the University of South Carolina campus, from The Horseshoe to the Koger Center. TBC is partnering with the Carolina vs. Clemson Blood Drive committee to bring several blood mobiles to campus, giving students and community members the opportunity to help maintain a stable blood supply. “For all of us involved in the Carolina Clemson Blood Battle, it is a tradition that we hold close to our hearts. It’s a special way for us to embrace our rivalry with our counterpart, Clemson University, and give back to our community during a time in which blood donations are historically low,” said Julia Ballou, co-president of the Carolina Clemson Blood Battle Committee.

At Clemson, TBC has partnered with students in Alpha Phi Omega (APO), a national service fraternity, for more than 25 years. The organization chooses to host Blood Bowl the week before Thanksgiving because of the blood center’s need for donations at that time. TBC typically sees a dip in donations during holiday seasons and winter months. The collaboration between TBC and APO every year emphasizes the critical need for consistent community involvement to support the local blood supply.

Clemson University took home the title in 2019, with their 17th win, one shy of UofSC, who has 18 wins. USC has a larger student body, so the playing field is leveled by competing based on the total number of units collected when thefootball game is played in Columbia, and on percentage of students donating blood when the game is in Clemson.

Right now, The Blood Connection is seeing continued low blood donor turnout, which impacts available supply to local hospitals. TBC serves more than 75 hospitals across South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia, and must collect more than 800 units a day to adequately supply those hospitals.

Students and community members can make an appointment to donate blood for Blood Bowl by going to thebloodconnection.org/cubloodbowl for Clemson, or thebloodconnection.org/uscbloodbattle for UofSC.

A list of locations at each campus:

Clemson University:

Hendrix Student Center: Monday – Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Bowman: Monday – Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Vickery: Monday – Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Ag Quad/Academic Success Center: Monday – Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Riggs Hall: Monday – Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Fernow Cafe: Monday – Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Watt Family Innovation Center: Monday – Friday 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.

University of South Carolina:

Horseshoe – Sumter Street: Monday – Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Koger Center: Monday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Engineering Center: Monday – Wednesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Kappa Kappa Gamma: Monday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Zeta Tau Alpha: Tuesday 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon: Thursday 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.

650 Lincoln: Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.