Where Clemson lands in experts’ bracketology after Duke, VT losses

Coach Brad Brownell’s Clemson Tigers hit a bump in an otherwise successful season by suffering back-to-back double-digit losses to Virginia Tech and Duke in Week 15 of the 2025-26 college basketball season.

Clemson (20-6 overall, 10-3 ACC), ranked No. 24 in this week’s USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, suffered a 76-66 home loss to unranked Virginia Tech in midweek play before an explosive second half by Duke propelled the Blue Devils to a 67-54 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday. The Tigers fell out of Monday’s AP Top 25 poll.

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Duke held Clemson to 35 percent shooting from the field, including six of 24 from beyond the arc. Carter Welling led the Tigers’ offense with 12 points, and RJ Godfrey added 10 as the only Clemson players to finish in double digits.

While Duke was climbing up the top 25 polls — the Blue Devils rose three spots to No. 3 in the Coaches Poll — to continue positioning itself for a No. 1 seed in next month’s NCAA Tournament, Clemson took a step back on the seed line in the experts’ latest March Madness projections this week.

Clemson basketball falls in NCAA Tournament, March Madness projections

In Tuesday’s bracketology update from longtime ESPN college basketball prognosticator Joe Lunardi, Clemson is a projected No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament after its losses to Virginia Tech and Duke. That’s down one spot on the seed line from last week.

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If the NCAA Tournament were to begin today, Lunardi sees the Tigers taking on the UCF Knights (17-7), the No. 10 seed in the first round of the East Region in Tampa, Florida.

If Clemson survives that first-round game, Lunardi has the Tigers squaring off against projected No. 2 seed Illinois (21-5), barring a first-round Illini upset by 15th-seeded Merrimack from the MAAC.

USA TODAY Sports’ college basketball analysts Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, and Eddie Timanus see Clemson even lower on the seed line: as a No. 8 seed in the group’s latest March Madness forecast. That outlook sees the…

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Publish date : 2026-02-17 20:30:00

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