Bracket Watch: Latest Clemson NCAAs projections

Clemson has the resume currently for one of the top seeds come March.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Mon Jan 29 10:43:34 GMT-04:00 2018

Clemson added another notch to its resume with a 72-70 win at Georgia Tech Sunday night.

Tied for third in the ACC standings with Duke now, the Tigers sit at fifth in the RPI rankings with a ninth-best strength of schedule.

Clemson pulled back to even in true road games (3-3) and improved to 6-4 on road/neutral sites.

They rank 17th in KenPom's efficiency rankings on the strength of a top-20 adjusted defense (17) and adjusted strength of schedule (24), as well as a top-50 offense (43).

In late January bracket projections, CBS Sports pegs Clemson as a 2-seed in the East, where the regional finals will be played in Boston. ESPN projects Clemson as a 4-seed in the Midwest, traveling to San Diego for the first round of games.

For a third time in five contests, Brad Brownell’s Tigers play a team ranked higher on KenPom in No. 13 UNC Tuesday (7 p.m./ESPN), which are on a two-game losing skid (80-69 at Virginia Tech; 95-91 at home versus NC State).

After splitting two ACC games last week, Clemson dropped two spots in both Monday's AP and Coaches Poll, to No. 20.

Clemson NCAA Tournament profile

Record: 17-4 (6-3 ACC)

RPI: 5

Strength of schedule: 9

Road/neutral record: 6-4

Last 10: 7-3

Top-25 ranked wins: No. 22 Florida (71-69 at neutral site), No. 18 Miami (72-63)

Record v. RPI Group 1*: 5-4

Record v. current KenPom top-50: 5-2

Bad losses (150+ RPI): None

*Home versus top-30 RPI rank, neutral site versus 1-50 rank, away versus 1-75 rank.