Clemson Football: ‘Asterisk’ won’t matter to the 2020 champions

‘Asterisk season’ won’t matter to Clemson football fans

The 2020 Clemson football season is just a matter of weeks away from kickoff and there are already discussions being had about the legitimacy of the year.

Following the Big Ten and Pac-12’s announcement to cancel their fall seasons, it was expected that other Power-5 leagues would follow suit but that hasn’t been the case as of this point. Instead, the ACC, Big 12 and SEC have seemingly aligned together to move forward with the 2020 season in the fall and that has brought forth plenty of questions from analysts and fans across the country.

Kirk Herbstreit, who has two sons on the Clemson football team, expressed optimism that the season will be played and he is excited for the upcoming year.

"“We can sit here and freak out about that or try to do the best you can and adjust accordingly and listen to what they say as far as guidelines and wear a mask,” Herbstreit said earlier this week on a radio appearance. “Stay six feet apart, social-distancing and let it rip. Live your life. So far, I’ve been very, very happy with everything. If they push on and play in the ACC, then more power to them. They clearly feel that they have everything in place to be able to create a safe environment and they feel they can push forward. We’ll see if that ends up happening."

However, Herbstreit did say there will be people who look back on this season with an ‘asterisk.’

"“It’ll feel a little different, not having everybody in, but if you do end up getting through, which again still remains to be seen if we will. But if we do get through it and we’ve got four teams standing there at the end … you’re still talking about some of the big boys…“But I think 5-10-15-20 years from now, there will still be somewhat of an asterisk. That’s how I feel, just because you don’t have the Pac-12 and the Big Ten playing.”"

Those ‘asterisk’ people exist, but Clemson football fans won’t care

If Clemson football wins the National Championship, you can bet that no one is going to care if there’s asterisk placed beside the season or not.

Tiger fans are still going to celebrate. They’re still going to hang a banner. They’re still going to add signage to Death Valley. That trophy is still going in the case.

Clemson football fans are still going to buy their t-shirts, bumper stickers, hats, polos, sweatshirts, hoodies and other championship apparel. They’re still going to remember the greatness of Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne. An asterisk isn’t going to stop them.

And the same can be said about every single other program still competing this fall. Do you think Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, LSU, Notre Dame or Florida are going to care about fans from the Big Ten and their remarks if they win the National Championship? No.

Do you think- if by some miracle- that UCF gets a bid into the CFB Playoff and comes away champions that the Knights are going to care that they only won during an ‘asterisk year’ and that they normally wouldn’t even be in the playoff?

The answer is no.

And, if the shoe was on the other foot: If Clemson was sitting at home and Ohio State won the whole thing, do you think Buckeye fans would care that the Tigers didn’t get to compete, so they would in turn, question the legitimacy of their own championship? The answer is no.

Asterisk talk is fine and dandy for those who don’t have the ability to win a championship, but the rest of the big boys who are still playing won’t care about your opinion- or mine- when it comes to the relevance of their rings or title trophy.