It’s finally the week of the big rivalry as head coach Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers head to Columbia to face off against archrival South Carolina Gamecocks. However, despite the strong emotions raging on the field, the head coach has given one stringent warning to his team, as well as to Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore.

It’s been over three years since South Carolina and Clemson have partaken in flag-planting activities. The Gamecocks did it in 2022 (31-30), and the Tigers settled the score after a 16-7 win. However, both Swinney and Gamecocks HC Shane Beamer have decided to put an end to the disrespectful practice. This weekend, when the Tigers visit Williams-Brice Stadium, there won’t be any more such incidents taking place.

“I don’t think it leads to anything good. Win the game, celebrate, all that stuff. But the extracurricular stuff on people’s fields, we need to be better. On both sides,” said Swinney during his weekly press conference. “Fine to celebrate with your fans and all that stuff, but disrespecting the logo and things like that, we all should be better in that regard, and bad things come from that.”

Swinney, who holds a $115 million contract at Clemson, has won two national championships. He is aware of the grind and the emotions that bleed out in intense matchups. Not just the South Carolina – Clemson rivalry, his message is for every rivalry matchup that partakes in the flag-planting tradition, the most prominent being the OSU-Michigan rivalry.

Last fall, the Wolverines headed to Columbus and beat Ohio State on their home turf. What followed next was total chaos. Michigan DB Mike Sainristil grabbed the Maize and Blue flag and ran towards the center of the field, planting the flag on the 50-yard line, on the OSU logo. The disrespect to the Buckeyes was obvious.

As soon as Sainristil planted that flag, a skirmish ensued. The situation was eventually brought under control, and both programs were fined $100,000 each.

Conversations regarding sportsmanship and ethics have come into the limelight, and Dabo Swinney is ensuring that college programs maintain that integrity of sportsmanship.

The flag-planting incident made headlines. But Michigan fans wear it with pride on their sleeves, or rather, treasure it at the Towsley Museum Lobby. And Sherrone Moore loves seeing it every time he walks through the Michigan corridors.

“When you walk in the building, you see it as soon as you walk in. Obviously, you see all the things about the rivalry and what it is, and you think about that every day.”

However, this year, Moore has issued a strict directive. No matter the intense emotions raging after the game, at the end of the day, it’s about the sportsmanship.

“There will be no more flag planting,” Moore said in July. “There will be no more grabbing the flag. We talked about our new tradition, what we do when we win a game—go meet the band, go sing our victors, and stay over there until the other team departs—and that’s how we’ll operate. Shake hands after the game, show sportsmanship, be cordial.”

With that, the focus remains on The Game this weekend.

The Game: OSU vs. Michigan

This year, The Game will take place in Ann Arbor. The entire stadium will be shrouded in maize and blue, with the head coach asking just one thing from Michigan fans.

“Be the loudest, most ravenous, craziest, energetic environment that we’ve had in Michigan Stadium ever,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ohio State remains equally salty. Every year, during rivalry week, the letter ‘M’ disappears from all over Columbus as fans cross out the letter ‘M’ and replace it with an ‘X’. Armed with two Heisman-caliber weapons in QB Julian Sayin and WR Jeremiah Smith, the Buckeyes will be heading to Ann Arbor.

It’s been four years since Ryan Day has been chasing that ‘gold pants’ pendant. Both desperation and determination are all too obvious. The playoff berth is guaranteed, and it won’t be a surprise if OSU wins the national championship again. However, the goal at Ohio State is to beat the team up North.