CLEMSON BASKETBALL

Bracket Watch: Clemson men back in ESPN projection

Bracket Watch: Clemson men back in ESPN projection


by - Staff Writer -

This week marks another opportunity for Clemson men's basketball to make a statement with its NCAA Tournament hopes very much on the bubble.

ESPN's latest projection Tuesday has Clemson just in the field and going to Dayton to face Temple in the First Four.

Yahoo and Fox Sports have Clemson in the same tier, while CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has Clemson in the first four out.

The road this week begins with a trip to last-place Pittsburgh (7 p.m./RSN) Wednesday, and they close the week at home in the last big resume-builder chance before the ACC Tournament with No. 5 North Carolina Saturday (6 p.m./ESPN).

The Tigers' postseason chances are buoyed by solid metric rankings with KenPom (34) and the new NET (43), as well as a strong strength of schedule (34). What the resume lacks is quality wins, with one Quadrant 1 victory (Virginia Tech), which is the only one versus a team in the top-half of the ACC standings this season.

Clemson men NCAA Tournament profile

Record: 16-11 (6-8 ACC)

NET: 43

Record v. NET Quadrant 1 & 2: 4-11

Strength of Schedule: 34

Average NET of Wins: 153

Average NET of Losses: 33

Bad losses (150+ NET): None

RPI: 60

Road/neutral record: 4-8

KenPom: 34

Record v. current KenPom top-50: 2-10

Top-25 ranked wins (at the time): No. 11 Virginia Tech (59-51 at home).

Last 10: 5-5

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On the women's side, Amanda Butler's Tigers have won four of their last six games and have worked their way off the 'last four in' of the ESPN projections.

ESPN sends the Clemson women to the Oregon pod in a 7-10 matchup with South Dakota to open the tournament.

The Tigers (18-10, 9-6) close ACC play at Duke on Thursday (7 p.m./ACC Network Extra) and then travel to Greensboro for the conference tournament (March 6-10).

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