See Where Clemson Basketball Ended Up in Newest AP Poll

Clemson’s trip out west was a success, and now it is seeing the benefits with another appearance in the AP Poll.

The Tigers remain at No. 20 in the top 25 rankings, coming off wins over Stanford and Cal to move to 20 total wins so far this season. Head coach Brad Brownell and his team are in the field for the fifth straight week.

The stalemate mainly comes from the domination over the Golden Bears on Saturday night, emphatically ending the two-game road trip with a double-digit win over a Quad 1 opponent. Clemson went on a 23-1 run over ten minutes in that game to go up by so much.

With other teams winning important games, sometimes remaining the same is a great sign.

Brownell’s team keeps winning the games that it should be winning and is now tied for first place in the ACC standings as well. Perhaps the ranking helps raise the stakes for the Duke Blue Devils, who the Tigers play on Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke remained as the No. 4 team in the country, having not lost at home this season.

That doesn’t mean that another team isn’t in Clemson’s way before that. The Tigers return home on Wednesday to host Virginia Tech, looking to avoid a potential trap game that many teams suffer after going to play three time zones away for the week.

“Last year, I think every team in the league maybe lost their midweek game except one, I think,” Brownell said last week. “And, so that’s where I think maybe sometimes the advantage is, for the team that gets to play the teams that are coming back.”

Duke, North Carolina, Virginia and Louisville are the other four ACC schools that remained in the field, solidifying the ACC as one of the best conferences for the 2025-26 season. North Carolina and Virginia rose to No. 11 and No. 15, respectively, while Louisville stayed at No. 24. NC State received 31 votes of consideration and could enter the poll as early as next week.

The Tigers will see both the Tar Heels and the Cardinals down the stretch of this season in Clemson’s final six games of the season. That will help clear the image of where the team could be seeded in both the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

Tipoff between the Tigers and Hokies is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network on Wednesday.