Where Clemson basketball's NCAA Tournament resume stands as March Madness arrives
The Clemson basketball team is used to close calls.
After all, seven of its games this season were decided by three points or less or in overtime.
But the closest call is likely to come today as a nervous group of Tigers learn their March Madness fate on Selection Sunday.
“We’ll have our fingers crossed on Sunday,” Clemson first-team All-ACC pick Hunter Tyson said. “I’m not looking for sympathy, I’m just looking for recognition of what I believe we’ve earned.”
Although Clemson exceeded expectations by finishing third in the ACC, the Tigers are the very definition of a bubble team – a 23-10 squad with a mixed resume of impressive wins and ugly defeats.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi lists Clemson among the “First Four Out” of the 68-team NCAA Tournament field while Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has the Tigers in the “Next Four Out.”
Here’s how Clemson’s resume stacks up heading into Selection Sunday:
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Clemson's resume: The good
It’s not hard to find positives on the Tigers’ resume.
Clemson got off to a 15-3 start, including a 10-1 record in ACC play, and knocked off such opponents as Duke, Pitt and NC State, each of whom are projected by most to be in the NCAA Tournament field.
Besides tying for the highest number of regular-season victories under Coach Brad Brownell with 22, the Tigers also won a school-record five ACC games on the road and defeated NC State three times by a combined 65 points, including a 26-point win in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday.
Clemson notched its second-largest jump from preseason ranking (11th) to final standing under Brownell and posted four Quad 1 victories, including three on the road.
“I think that’s significant,” Brownell said.
Clemson's resume: The bad
After their 10-1 start in ACC play, the Tigers appeared destined for an NCAA Tournament berth if not an ACC regular-season title.
But a late-season swoon that saw Clemson drop consecutive games against Boston College, Miami and North Carolina, then flounder in a 10-point decision at last-place Louisville essentially derailed the ACC title hopes.
The Tigers’ NET ranking of 60 hasn’t helped matters, nor has their four combined losses against Quad 3 and Quad 4 opponents. Those four defeats are more than all but three other ACC teams and no team in the Top 69 of the NET rankings has more Quad 3 and Quad 4 losses.
The worst of those defeats came against South Carolina (No. 234), by 18 points against Loyola Chicago (267th) and Louisville (315th). Clemson’s non-conference strength of schedule also ranked 334th, the lowest of any ACC team.
Clemson's resume: The bottom line
Brownell said last week that it’s “strange to be sitting here third in the ACC and still a little bit on pins and needles,” and rest assured that feeling has only intensified since.
Clemson routed NC State in the ACC Tournament, but then suffered a similar fate against Virginia in the semifinals on Friday night, losing 76-56. A win against the Cavaliers, who are the league’s second-highest rated team according to the NET at No. 23, would have gone a long way toward ensuring the Tigers a berth in March Madness.
Instead Clemson will be sweating it out on Selection Sunday. The Tigers’ fate appears to be a toss-up between a fourth NCAA Tournament bid under Brownell or the program’s fourth trip to the NIT in his 13 seasons.
“I understand we have some tough losses,” Tyson said. “But at the end of the day we should be in the tournament. If you really want the best 68 teams, we’re one of them.”
Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson NCAA Tournament 2023: Where its March Madness resume stands
