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2025 ACC Tournament: ESPN2 broadcast takes hilarious shot at Mark Sanchez, butt fumble during SMU vs. Clemson

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery03/13/25
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Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE

We got one of the more unexpected mentions of the ACC Tournament on Thursday night, when the Clemson Tigers were facing off against the SMU Mustangs in the ACC Quarterfinals. The Tigers’ Jaeden Zackery ran into one of his own teammates, and that caused the ESPN2 broadcast announcer to think of Mark Sanchez and the infamous butt fumble.

Kevin Brown and Jon Crispin decided to reminisce on one of the funnier moments in sports history.

“Zackery. Oh, he ran into Reeves’ back. Looking like Mark Sanchez on Thanksgiving night.”

“Ah, the Butt Fumble. Never thought the Butt Fumble would make it into our broadcast.”

The Clemson Tigers survived a hard-fought game against the SMU Mustangs on Thursday night in their ACC Tournament Quarterfinal matchup. Chase Hunter drilled a critical free throw with 2.5 seconds left to ensure the victory for the Tigers. He poured in 21 points and grabbed four rebounds. Jaeden Zackery poured in 11 points and three rebounds. And Ian Schieffelin scored nine points to go along with grabbing 12 rebounds in a very physical contest.

It was a pretty ugly game, with SMU shooting just 1 of 14 from three-point range (7.1%) and Clemson connected on just four of 21 shots from beyond-the-arc (19.0%). The Tigers managed to survive despite Dillon Hunter being ruled out of the game with an injury, according to their Twitter page. In the postgame press conference, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said that Hunter “probably broke his hand”.

Clemson entered the postseason with a No. 10 rank in the polls, their highest since 2009. The ACC Semifinals are rarified territory for the Tigers. In 71 ACC Tournaments, the Tigers have never won three tournament games in a row. They’ve only won two ACC Tourney games twice in 1962 and 2008.

No. 2 seed Louisville will face No. 3 seed Clemson in the ACC Tournament Semifinals. That one is set for 9:30 on Friday night on ESPN2.