Clemson Tigers Make 'Bottom Ten' of Week 10 After Poor Showing

The Clemson Tigers suffered their worst loss of the year Saturday, and some did not take it very well.

Nov 2, 2024; Clemson, South Carolina, USA; A referee tosses a water bottle to the sideline near Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney after people in the stands threw bottles on the field after a call in favor of the Louisville Cardinals during the fourth quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images / Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images

No one likes to lose, though some take it much worse than others, and that was very much the case during the Clemson Tigers' losing effort to the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday.

Late in the fourth quarter, with the game all but out of reach, the Tigers attempted an onside kick as a means to keep themselves in the game.

The officials ruled that the Cardinals recovered the kick, and the play went to a replay review that found the ruling on the field to stand, indicating that there was not enough evidence to overturn the call.

Those in attendance were not happy with the result of the replay review and made their voices heard in one of the worst ways possible, by throwing water bottles and other debris on the field.

This has been nothing new, even this year fans attending Major League Baseball games have done the same, though it is highly frowned upon and a quick way to get yourself kicked out and potentially banned or even arrested if someone on the field were to be injured by the flying debris.

The Texas Longhorns faced a similar situation earlier in the year, too, and banned a number of their students from attending any more games in the 2024 season.

For Clemson, the showing was just embarrassing enough to land in Ryan McGee of ESPN's "Bottom 10" of the week, ranking as the fifth worst thing to happen in college football in Week 10.

"The Tigers tumble down The Hill from the fancy-schmancy Coaches Poll top 10 into the Coveted Fifth Spot after losing to #goacc mid-packer Louisville," writes McGee, "We were on the fence about whether to put Death Valley or Happy Valley into this slot, but our minds were made up after downing a bottle of refreshing water that had been winged at our heads from the Clemson student section."

It is a poor and embarrassing situation all around, from the Tigers' loss to Louisville after dominating (most) of the rest of their schedule throughout the year, to the fans and students in attendance showing the absolute epitome of poor sportsmanship.

Dabo Swinney shared his thoughts on the matter during his Sunday conference call, and he was also not happy with what occurred.

“That is not who we are at Clemson,” Swinney said, “I get it, but they need to let me deal with the refs. That is just not something we should do here at Clemson. So, hopefully, we will learn from that, and that will not happen anymore.”

While it does not make it right, it does seem to be a growing trend across sports as a whole, but it is one that needs to be curtailed quickly before it becomes much worse.