Gambling money has painted college sports into a deep corner

Dabo Swinney, during a two-minute tirade earlier this week, made an authentic point — even if it’s not exactly the one he intended to drive home.

“We have gambling issues going on , people being suspended, all that kind of stuff,” Swinney said. "I mean refs are people, too. It ain’t just coaches and players.”

That was about 72 hours following Clemson’s 46-45 loss to Duke, a game that’s come to be defined by a questionable pass interference call. Swinney criticized the officiating immediately afterward, took his punishment (a $10,000 fine from the ACC) and then kept on talking a few days later.

To be clear, he wasn’t outright accusing the refs of being on the take.

Instead, it was Dabo being Dabo, trying to distract and deflect from the core reasons for another loss in a historically