After routing Auburn in the second round, the Clemson Tigers are preparing to take the next step and grab the country’s attention by knocking off Kansas. What must they do to accomplish this?
The first weekend of the NCAA tournament had quite a few storylines, and one that slipped a little bit under the radar was the play of the Clemson Tigers. After many doubted them in their opening game against 12th seed New Mexico State, Clemson proved all of their doubters wrong by surpassing the Aggies and then dispatching the 4th seed Auburn by 31 points.
All of a sudden, making a final four run is a serious possibility for this Clemson team. But this isn’t possible without getting by the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks in the Midwest regional semifinal.
Kansas comes in limping just a little bit, having a little more difficult than expected to get through their first two rounds of play. At one point last Thursday, the Jayhawks trailed by 10 points against the 16th seeded Penn Quakers. In the second round, Kansas held the lead for the majority of the contest but struggled in the final minute to close out Seton Hall and won by just four points.
Even so, none of this takes away from the size and talent Kansas has and the fact that they are overwhelming favorites. Clemson is going to have to play at least as well as they did on Sunday to advance to the elite eight. These three keys are what the Tigers should especially focus on as they prepare for one of the biggest games in program history.