CLEMSON – If you have recently been in a middle school, on social media, or seen Dictionary.com’s selection for 2025 Word of the Year, you have probably heard of the fabled “6-7” meme.
The phrase, which gained popularity from a 2024 drill rap song by Philadelphia rapper Skrilla, is largely nonsensical, yet it has permeated everything from basketball edits to minor league baseball jerseys.
Even a concrete wall in downtown Clemson was graffitied with the glorified numbers last weekend.
Most recently, it made its way to Dabo Swinney’s press conference Tuesday, when the coach was asked if winning seven games in a season put the Tigers in a more favorable bowl game than winning six games.
“I have no idea,” Swinney said in response to the initial question. “It just means 67. Is that a setup? Am I supposed to just jump in on that? I’m in the know. I got 126, you know, 17 to 23 year olds,” he added with a laugh.
Despite being “in the know,” Swinney, along with every person who had the meme thrust into their lives without warning, is not sure what to think of social media’s biggest fixation.
“I don’t even know what that means, by the way. I have no idea. I have no idea what that means.”
A few weeks ago, Swinney first made the “6-7” headlines, when he did the shrugging motion commonly associated with the meme in another press conference. Although media members and fans speculated on the two-time national champion’s knowledge of the bit at that point, he denied any meme-ridden motives.
“The only reason I knew it was because my players brought that to my attention,” he said. “I don’t even remember what we were talking about, but I have no idea. I have no idea. You can ask all the people.”
Six-Seven mania’s first introduction to Clemson sports did not come with Swinney on Tuesday, however. In an October post from Clemson baseball, head coach Erik Bakich showcased hundreds of attendees (most younger than age 12) at a Halloween-themed batting practice.
While campers and Tiger players rocked Disney, baseball-themed, and blowup costumes, campers voted on two players donning six and seven shirts as the best ensemble of the day.
Former outfielder Dominic Listi chimed in on the discourse.
“Needs better vocab,” he said in a comment liked by starting pitcher Aidan Knaak.
Similarly, in the Tigers women’s basketball’s first game against the USC Upstate Spartans on Nov. 3, Littlejohn Coliseum hosted its second-annual Education Game, in which thousands of elementary students took a field trip to watch the Tigers get a win.
When forward Rusne Augustinaite knocked down a shot to bring the Tigers’ score to 67, every one of the 4,000 voices could be heard screaming in utter joy. “Six-Seven” struck again.
While meme culture has taken Clemson Athletics with a thundering urgency, Swinney’s focus is fixed on what is real — winning the rivalry game against South Carolina on Saturday (noon, SECN).
With a win, a lot more 6-to-7 wins discourse is sure to follow.