3 Sports that Clemson Athletics should add at the varsity level

Clemson has a nice catalog of varsity sports for athletes to participate in and for students and fans to watch and follow. Clemson’s athletic family has grown over the past five years.

First Clemson added Softball, which has become a hit among fans (pun intended). Then they added Women’s Lacrosse in 2023 and Women’s Gymnastics in 2024.

There is a common theme there: the Tigers have been adding women’s sports. This wasn’t a coincidence. It was to keep compliant with Title IX, which says the amount of sports offered to men and women must be proportionate to the population of the student body.

The percentage of female students has increased relative to male students in recent years, so it was necessary to add women’s sports to balance things out. The other option would be to cut men’s sports, which was considered but ultimately unpopular.

Things could change in this regard in the coming years, and it all has to do with football and the continuing momentum to consider some athletes as employees of the university.

How this will shake out for all the sports is unknown, but the biggest driver for Title IX has always been football. It creates a large volume of opportunities for males that must be balanced by female sports programs.

The administrators and lawyers will settle the policies on how to stay compliant, but if football no longer counts towards Title IX, it could open the door for Clemson to add more programs.

Here are the three NCAA sports that Clemson should add at the varsity level if possible.

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