Clemson men's basketball enters AP top 25 rankings

Simms and the Tigers have put together a strong early resume. (ACC photo)

Brandon Rink · Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer · Monday, December 14 2020

Clemson men's basketball rejoined the top-25 Monday for the first time since November of 2018.

The AP ranked them No. 24 as a part of seven ACC teams in the poll, which is led by Gonzaga (54 first-place votes).

Brad Brownell's Tigers are off to a 5-0 start like that 2018-19 season after major-conference wins over Alabama, Purdue, Mississippi State and Maryland.

Clemson is rated 19th by the KenPom metric with a No. 2-ranked defense and 65th-best offense.

The Tigers open ACC play on Tuesday at the Virginia Tech Hokies (4-1) at 6:30 p.m. on ACC Network.

AP Poll - 12/14

Rank Team Conference Record Points

1 Gonzaga West Coast 3-0 1,541(54)

2 Baylor Big 12 4-0 1,491(7)

3 Iowa Big Ten 6-0 1,427(1)

4 Michigan State Big Ten 6-0 1,307

5 Kansas Big 12 6-1 1,289

6 Houston American Athletic Conference (AAC) 4-0 1,169

7 Villanova Big East 5-1 1,163

8 West Virginia West Virginia Big 12 6-1 1,113

9 Creighton Big East 4-1 1,037

10 Tennessee SEC 2-0 941

11 Texas Big 12 5-1 873

12 Wisconsin Big Ten 4-1 846

13 Illinois Big Ten 4-2 742

14 Texas Tech Big 12 6-1 669

15 Florida State ACC 3-0 619

16 Missouri SEC 5-0 491

17 Virginia ACC 3-1 456

18 San Diego State Mountain West 5-0 455

19 Rutgers Big Ten 4-0 396

20 Ohio State Big Ten 5-0 392

21 Duke ACC 2-2 345

22 North Carolina ACC 4-2 328

23 Louisville ACC 4-0 164

24 Clemson ACC 5-0 156

25 Michigan Big Ten 6-0 142

Others Receiving Votes: Richmond 140, Saint Louis 121, Virginia Tech 115, Xavier 55, Oklahoma St. 48, Oregon 31, Indiana 22, Florida 18, Arizona St 13, UCLA 9, UConn 7, Arizona 5, Syracuse 4, Georgia 4, Arkansas 4, SMU 1, Minnesota 1.