Remember that viral moment when Caitlin Clark read out, “What’s one snack Caitlin Clark always has on the road?” and Kelsey Mitchell instantly deadpanned: “Cheez-It”? Well, fans are now convinced Clark isn’t hitting the road, so neither are the Cheez-Its. The Midwest’s Fever are heading further east to face the Connecticut Sun. The squad looked all set with their handbags swinging while boarding the bus, but there was no sign of the Indy star.

Moreover, Sophie Cunningham’s honesty after losing to the Mystics isn’t exactly giving the fanbase reason to hold their breath either. “We’ve had some hard injuries this year. We’ve had some different lineups and roster spots, and to be frank, I don’t think anyone else around the league thinks that we can do it anymore,” she admitted. “But I think our group does. We just have to get that confidence back. When we’re clicking offensively, defensively, we’re scary. Not a lot of teams can beat us, even with the roster we have right now. So for us, it’s just remembering who we are, our identity. We have to get back to being dogs and being aggressive, and not allowing teams like this to come in here and outwork us,” she said.

The translation is that Cunningham is laser-focused on grinding with the pieces they have, not waiting for a certain No. 1 draft pick to swoop in and rescue the season. And fans (who were already pointing out how rough the team has looked without Caitlin Clark) aren’t exactly feeling reassured.

So the skies over Connecticut are partly cloudy tonight, and so are the Fever fans’ hopes. Sure, the Suns are sitting at the bottom of the standings, but Indiana isn’t exactly immune to an upset. They only lead the season series 2–1. Now, tonight gives Connecticut a chance to even the numbers – this would also hand the Fever their third straight loss to a team ranked below them. No wonder fans are on edge. Let’s take a look-

Caitlin Clark Fans are Restless

The tensions really picked up when the Indiana Fever’s official X account dropped a video of the squad heading toward the bus with all the energy in the world. All 12 players were beaming, it felt complete with Brianna Turner pulling off a classic heel click that had fans joking, “What did y’all give Bri?? 😂 I haven’t seen her this animated in forever.” Sophie Cunningham also made her presence felt, rocking her new 29-year-old status, saying, “a little bit older, a lot more wiser.” Wiser, maybe, but that doesn’t distract fans from the bigger story: Caitlin Clark was nowhere to be found.

The comment section wasted no time. “Where’s Caitlin?” one fan asked. This sparked a domino of others chiming in with “Did CC not go with them?” and “yup she isn’t with the team.” One even tried to rationalize it with: “Looks like Caitlin Clark is not traveling with the team. They have a 5-day break so she probably went home to Iowa.” Reasonable enough, but Clark’s history suggests otherwise. She has never been the type to pick rest over riding with her squad. She even dragged herself to Indiana Pacers games in the middle of a quad strain.

Another fan guessed “doctor’s appointment”, but that theory didn’t hold water either. Because her injury status has been stable. If she stayed back, it had to be for something bigger. And unfortunately, it might be because Caitlin’s boyfriend, Connor McCaffery, just lost his maternal grandmother, Marit Smaby Nowlin. She passed away on August 13 at age 80. It’s very possible that Caitlin is taking this rare stretch to be there for her partner and his family.

It’s also probably why she’s been acting a little differently than usual, as one fan pointed out: “Didn’t see Caitlin at practice celebrating Sophie’s bday, didn’t see her getting on this plane, and she looked sad/miserable as hell last night, what is going on? Questions will hopefully be asked by media tomorrow, but no doubt fobbed off.” And honestly, it did feel strange not seeing Caitlin Clark with the squad. Especially when Sophie Cunningham was out there in full birthday mode, pink cowgirl hat on. She strutted across the hardwood with a hand twirling in the air like she was riding a bull; it was peak Indy vibes.

Still, not every fan is in detective mode. Some people even shrugged it off: “They don’t show everyone in videos. She never misses games and it’s Sophie’s bday, I’d be shocked if she wasn’t there. Also, someone posted the whole team out for dinner—chill 😂.” Maybe true, maybe not. And if it wasn’t Caitlin Clark, fans found another target for their frustrations: head coach Stephanie White.

There were comments like “Leave coach in Indy” and “Who cares 😂 can they leave the coach in Indiana”. Seems like the frustration with Stephanie White hasn’t cooled yet. Fans are still hung up on her tighter rotations against the Mystics, a game they lost by four. White tried to explain it: “Some of it was defense, being able to execute the type of defensive coverages that we wanted to have against the way that they play. Rebounding was some of that, too. Making sure we had people that were in position when we were in some of our switches to rebound.”

Still, explanations only go so far when fans are looking at the scoreboard. Between Citlin Clark’s mysterious absence and simmering doubts about coaching decisions, and Sophie Cunningham’s admission, the Fever Nation is restless. And until the team answers on the court, every missing face or missed rotation is going to feel bigger than it really is. Let us know how you feel in the comments section.