Clemson Still has 'Work to do' to Lock Down NCAA Tournament Bid

Monte Lee and the Clemson baseball team are headed to Charlotte next week, thanks to winning the series against Boston College and locking down a spot in the ACC tournament.

Beyond that, though, there is still a great deal of unknown.

The Tigers likely greatly needed all three of the wins they got over the Eagles during the sweep of the final series of the season. According to D1baseball.com national writer Aaron Fitt, Clemson went into the last homestand needing to get to 13 ACC victories.

We included Clemson in our field of 64 projection this week with the caveat that the Tigers need to sweep Boston College, who was 5-22 entering the weekend. So far, Clemson is taking care of business, now up 2-0 in the series after a 6-2 win today.
— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) May 20, 2022

In that scenario, I suspect they’d probably all be completely safe except for Clemson, which would probably still need to win a game or two in Charlotte. Clemson needs to sweep just to have a chance, but 13 ACC wins is still bubble territory, even with a good RPI.
— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) May 20, 2022

Clemson did its part, beating Boston College 15-1, 6-2 and 5-0 to clinch the 12th and final spot in the ACC tournament. The Tigers won seven of the team's final nine ACC contests heading into pool play, which begins Tuesday.

"I think everybody is aware of just how important every game is for us right now as we try to do everything we can to get our club into the NCAA field of 64," Lee said after Saturday's win. "This certainly helps today, that's for sure."

The Tigers were as high as 18th this week in RPI, a formula heavily used by the NCAA tournament selection committee. But a 17-2 loss at Coastal Carolina on Tuesday and playing a low-ranking BC team in the RPI forced Clemson down to No. 31 on Saturday.

A team with 35 overall victories, including 11 wins over teams ranked ahead of them, and close to a top-30 in RPI should keep the Tigers on the bubble heading to Charlotte, but they might need to win at least one if not two games to solidify themselves with the NCAA.

"We've still got work to do," Lee said. "I would say I feel pretty good about our chances of getting in the postseason...but we feel like we need to play well (at the ACC tournament). Some of those things are out of our control but a lot of them are within our control. Find a way to play good baseball in the ACC tournament and see what happens."

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