Clemson Looks to Move Forward After Falling in ACC Tournament Semifinals

Will this Clemson Tigers basketball team make it into the NCAA Tournament? Most Tiger fans would answer with an emphatic "yes" but it seems opinions among the media are mixed. ESPN's Jay Bilas had this to say: “I don’t need two eyes to know Clemson is a tournament team. Clemson has five Quad 1 wins, and four of them are away from home. I don’t even know why this is a discussion. This is an NCAA Tournament team, period. They’ve had really good wins.” While ESPN's tournament seeding expert and prognosticator Joe Lunardi said that he thinks "Clemson is the most difficult call for the committee in a number of years".

Preach, Jay 👏👏👏

"It's not even a discussion. They were in before and they are in now (...) I'd like to hear some committee member explain to me how some of these other teams are better." pic.twitter.com/zmvloahVA6
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) March 10, 2023

Lunardi also has Clemson in his "First 4 Out" list, just missing the tournament during a year in which their conference play would clearly indicate them being a team capable of competing against the highest level of competition. Apparently, it's the Tigers' non-conference schedule that's hurting their resume. “What they have is the worst non-conference schedule ranking in the history of bubble teams," said Lunardi. "And if they get an at-large bid they would be breaking the committee’s longstanding precedent in that regard.”

As much as last night's loss to Virginia stung, it would seem that losses to Iowa, Loyola Chicago, and arch-rival South Carolina hurt even worse. Those early season missteps could be an unfortunate set of moments for the players and coaches to have to dwell on after righting the ship and competing so well in one of the toughest conferences in America.

Regardless of what happens on Sunday, this 2022-2023 basketball season has been an absolute positive for the program moving forward, which is why it would be such a shame to see it come to such an undeserving end.

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