Experts’ NCAA Tournament projections for Clemson basketball after latest Quad 1 win

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Monday’s new Top 25 men’s college basketball polls saw the Clemson Tigers continue to rise.

Clemson (22-5 overall, 14-2 ACC) rose three spots to No. 14 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. In the new AP Top 25 poll, Brad Brownell’s Tigers saw an even bigger leap: up five spots to No. 13 — their highest ranking all season.

That came after the Tigers defeated the SMU Mustangs 79-69 in Dallas over the weekend to improve to 4-2 in games against Quad 1 opponents. Jaeden Zackery led Clemson with 19 points, Chase Hunter added 17 and Viktor Lakhin had 16.

In Tuesday’s updated March Madness outlooks, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm took notice of Clemson. Both Lunardi and Palm moved the Tigers up one spot to a projected No. 5 seed in next month’s NCAA Tournament.

Lunardi has the Tigers in a No. 5 vs. 12 seed game against UC San Diego, the projected Big West conference champion and auto-bid, in the West Region. The Florida Gators are the projected No. 1 seed in that region.

If Lunardi’s projection were to materialize, Clemson would begin tournament play a long way from the Upstate. The veteran March Madness prognosticator has Clemson-UC San Diego squaring off in Seattle.

For his part, Palm has the Tigers in the Midwest Region, where he kept the Alabama Crimson Tide as a No. 1 seed. Palm forecasts a first-round game between Clemson and the McNeese State Cowboys, the projected Southland Conference champion led by former LSU Tigers coach Will Wade. Palm also has Clemson opening the NCAA Tournament in Seattle.

The Tigers are currently No. 22 in the NET rankings and are 11-4 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games. The Tigers are No. 19 in the KenPom ratings, up four spots from last week.

Clemson schedule 2025

Four games remain on the Tigers’ regular season schedule, including Wednesday’s matchup against Notre Dame at Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ACC Network.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/experts-ncaa-tournament-projections-clemson-191005633.html

Author : Clemson Wire

Publish date : 2025-02-25 19:10:00

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