How Does Clemson Basketball’s 0-2 Week Affect Bracket Projections?

This week, for the first time in more than two months, Clemson basketball lost two games in a row. First, it was Virginia Tech at home. Then, it was away at Duke.

Clemson went from tied for first in the ACC to third. The team is most likely out of the AP Poll this week. But amid a week to forget, the Tigers cannot lose sight of their ultimate goal: the NCAA Tournament in March.

With that in mind, just how big of a hit did Clemson’s postseason projections take?

Before tipoff against the Hokies on Wednesday, Clemson was projected by CBS Sports as a No. 6 seed in the East. Two losses later, Clemson’s projected seed dropped to No. 8.

CBS now has Clemson projected to play No. 9 seed Indiana in the South region. If that prediction holds through March, Clemson would be playing the winner of projected No. 1 seed Houston and a No. 16 seed, which is TBD.

Before their rough run of form in the ACC this week, Clemson was teed up to play projected No. 11 seed Santa Clara, with the winner facing No. 3 Purdue or No. 14 Winthrop.

So all things considered, Clemson’s pair of losses are costly, but they surely aren’t the end of the line. At 10-3, the Tigers are hot on the heels of Virginia, who took over Clemson this week with a 10-2 record and a game in hand. Virginia plays Georgia Tech this Wednesday.

On the other side of the equation, two ACC teams moved up in the world with direct correlation to Clemson’s fall. How did Duke and Virginia Tech’s wins this week change their landscapes?

Duke’s resulting impact is minimal. Most projections still had Duke as the No. 1 seed in the East after a buzzer-beater loss against UNC last week. A week later, victory over Clemson kept Duke in the same spot, per CBS Sports. Duke is projected to play No. 16 San Martin, with the winner facing off against the winner of No. 8 Auburn and No. 9 Miami.

After beating No. 20 Clemson on Wednesday, Virginia Tech turned around and lost by 23 points to the unranked Florida State Seminoles at home. Prior to their victory at Littlejohn Coliseum, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Virginia Tech in the “Next Four Out” section. After the victory at Clemson, Virginia Tech moved to the “First Four Out” category.

On Saturday, in CBS’s updated projections after the loss to FSU, the Hokies were outside of the 68-team field, meaning their win over Clemson was largely nullified by the Seminoles.

This week, Clemson plays at Wake Forest on Wednesday before hosting FSU on Saturday.

With a lot of basketball still left to play, Clemson’s postseason dreams are still alive and very well.