“I have no idea what it is:” Dabo Swinney finds out how to find The CW ahead of Clemson’s game against NC State

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney now knows how to find The CW in his channel guide.

The Tigers’ game against NC State on Saturday will be broadcast on The CW Network. It’s the first time Clemson has played on The CW this season, and Swinney was very unfamiliar with the network when asked about it Tuesday.

“I have no idea what it is, I don’t even know where it is,” Swinney said. “Where should I go?”

After Swinney was quickly informed that The CW channel 62 was in the Clemson area, he wanted to make sure he could find it through his DirecTV guide.

“OK, channel 62…Where is it on DirecTV? I have DirecTV. Oh, there it is? 62, okay.”

You can forgive Swinney — and many Clemson fans, too — for not knowing how to find The CW until Tuesday. He said he doesn’t watch much TV other than sports and news and that Clemson has rarely had to worry about falling down the ACC TV pecking order over the past decade.

But the Tigers are 4-3 this season after a loss to Miami in Week 8 and have lost three ACC games in a season for the first time since 2010. Their problems are the reason Clemson’s game starts at 2 p.m. on The CW rather than another time on an ESPN-owned network.

It is also the first season of The CW’s television deal with the ACC. The channel took over the former Raycom sports package with ACC games ahead of the 2023 season and is slowly moving into sports broadcasting. The CW broadcasts LIV golf tournaments and will also broadcast second division NASCAR races starting in 2025.

The CW’s games so far this season have also been entertaining. The network broadcast Virginia’s first-ever win over a top-10 team in Week 8, when the Cavaliers stunned North Carolina and Pitt’s upset of previously unbeaten Louisville also aired on The CW. NC State hopes to continue this upset. The Wolfpack are 10 point underdogs to the Tigers at home.