CLEMSON BASKETBALL

No. 5 seed Clemson headed to San Diego for NCAA Tournament

No. 5 seed Clemson headed to San Diego for NCAA Tournament


by - Assoc. Editor -

The Tigers are headed to California.

Clemson (23-9) was named the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region in San Diego, Ca. in the 2018 NCAA Tournament draw on Selection Sunday. The Tigers will face No. 12 New Mexico State (28-5) on Friday at 9:57 pm on TruTV.

The other side of the bracket is No. 4 Auburn (25-7) vs. No. 13 College of Charleston (26-7) on Friday.

TBS analyst Charles Barkley put Clemson on upset alert during the telecast by picking the Aggies over the Tigers. New Mexico State had a 12-2 record in conference play and had a 1-1 record in Top 25 action. Their leading scorer is senior guard Zach Lofton who averages 19.8 ppg.

CBS Sports, USA Today, ESPN's Joe Lunardi all projected Clemson as a No. 5 seed in the tournament.

This will be the 12th time that Clemson has made the tournament with 2011 being the last time that they were included in the prestigious tournament. During that year, Clemson defeated No. 12 seed UAB 70-52 in the 'first four' game but then lost to No. 5 seed West Virginia 84-76.

The Tigers narrowly lost 64-58 to No. 1 overall Virginia in the ACC Semifinals on Friday night. However, it has been a highly successful season with Clemson earning a fourth-place seed in the ACC tournament with a school record 11 ACC wins despite media pundits voting them 13th in preseason polls.

Clemson has an RPI of No. 10 as of Sunday afternoon. Nine ACC teams made the NCAA tournament including Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. Louisville and Notre Dame didn't make the final cut as their NCAA bubble popped.

This confident Clemson squad can make some noise in the tournament with their trio of veteran guards, talented frontcourt players, and improved play from the bench.

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