South Carolina Baseball: Clemson Tigers coach makes ridiculous "blue blood" claim

The South Carolina baseball program is not in the same place it was just over a decade ago when it was the unquestioned top program in the country after back-to-back National Championships and another appearance in the National Championship Series the next year. Even so, the Gamecocks have found themselves in four Super Regionals since that time.

That is exactly four more than the rival Clemson Tigers have made during that same span. In fact, that team from the Upstate hasn't made the Supers since 2010. They've hosted five Regionals during (the same number as Carolina), but the Tigers have lost them all.

Despite that, for some reason, Clemson baseball coach Erik Bakich made a fairly ridiculous claim. When speaking to WYFF's Mark Whiteman and Julia Morris, Bakich quipped that only Gamecock fans bring up Clemson's lack of Super Regional (and College World Series) appearances and called it "trolling." He also argued that the Clemson Tigers are a college baseball "blue blood."

Respectfully to Coach Bakich, that's ridiculous.

The term "blue blood" originates from the ancient view that nobility bled blue or purple to distinguish themselves from commoners. In sports, it doesn't have anything to do with blood, but the theme of distinguishing between nobility and the common folk holds true.ESPN defines the term "blue blood" in sports to mean a program that has had a winning tradition and championships that span "generations," separating those programs from the rest.

Clemson baseball has never won a National Championship. In fact, they've never been the national runner-up. They've had one top-3 finish in the national polls in the history of the program. They are, in no way, shape, or form, a "blue blood."

The Tigers have a great baseball tradition of consistently competing at a high level, but "blue blood" is a term reserved only for the elite of the elite throughout the history of the sport. Even with their two national championships and three national runners-up finishes, South Carolina baseball is still on the line of "blue blood," and many might argue the Gamecocks are not on that short list. Clemson certainly is not.

The Tigers are one of the best teams in college baseball this season as evidenced by them receiving another hosting opportunity for this year's NCAA Tournament. They are the #6 overall seed and will host their Regional and, if they advance, the Super Regional round before the College World Series in Omaha. They will take on the High Point Rockers on Friday.

Mark Kingston's South Carolina baseball team is also in the NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks will travel to Raleigh to play in a Regional hosted by the NC State Wolfpack. Carolina's first game will be against the James Madison Dukes on Friday. Gamecock fans can tune in for the game at 2:00 PM ET on ESPN+.