Clemson bracketology update: Where the Tigers stand in last regular season week

Brad Brownell's Tigers have a shot and can play their way into the NCAA Tournament field one way or another.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Mon Feb 27 15:02:12 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson men's basketball is in a far better position starting this week than last week when it comes to postseason play. The moving target, however, is just what Brad Brownell's Tigers (21-8) need to do to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The impressive wins at home over Syracuse and at NC State vaulted Clemson from the 80s to as high as inside the top-60 of the NCAA's NET ranking tool. The victory in Raleigh improved the Tigers' record against top-tier NET teams, to 4-2, and the loss to South Carolina from earlier this season dropped out of the lowest-tier Quadrant 4 category, leaving Clemson an 8-2 mark there.

Something to remember as Clemson's conference record bolsters (up to 13-5 now), however, is that there is still a disparity in the Tigers' non-conference strength of schedule versus other bubble teams.

Clemson wasn't even on CBS Sports' bubble list last week, and compared to its current 'First 4 Out,' the nearest team to the Tigers' mid-300s non-conference SOS ranking (342 per WarrenNolan) is Penn State at No. 279 overall, and in the 'Last 4 In' category, it's Mississippi State at No. 238.

Sportings News' projection on Monday has Clemson in the "first four out" pitted against three of the same teams just in the CBS field and also places UNC on the right side of the bubble, which has a No. 18-rated non-conference slate, No. 38 SOS overall and the 20-point win over the Tigers this month.

Again on the ACC wins point, conference records have not appeared on the NCAA selection committee "team sheet" for comparing resumes in recent years. Individual members certainly could look at where Clemson finishes in the standings and the number of ACC wins they garner, but that's not an officially recognized metric for selection.

What is pointed to more is how teams do against the NET quadrants, and Tuesday's game at Virginia (7 p.m./ACCN) is a chance to grab another Q1 win. If a bye is secured to Thursday's ACC Tournament quarterfinals, that will likely be another Q1 victory opportunity. One thing to watch on the Q1 front is the win at Virginia Tech is in danger of dropping to Q2 (two spots into the Q1 tier currently), and in the Q4 loss category, South Carolina is only three spots from dropping back to the lowest tier.

That said, Clemson goes into Tuesday with a mathematical shot at being the No. 1 seed in Greensboro's conference tournament, needing a sweep of Virginia and Notre Dame, a Pitt loss at Notre Dame Wednesday and a Pitt win at Miami Saturday.

And of course, three wins at the ACC Tourney, from a double-bye position in the top-four, eliminates all bubble talk with an automatic NCAA Tournament bid (Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?).

Clemson NCAA Tournament profile

Record: 21-8

KPI: 52

SOR (Strength of record): 56

BPI: 56

KenPom: 69

Sagarin: 51

NET: 60

Record vs. NET Q1: 4-2 (win over No. 24 Duke at home and No. 42 NC State, No. 53 Pitt and No. 74 Virginia Tech on the road)

Q4 losses: 2 (in neutral site game with No. 270 Loyola-Chicago and on the road at No. 308 Louisville)

NET SOS: 114

NON-CON SOS: 342