Bracketology 2021: Texas, Tulsa, and Clemson among biggest winners
By Joey Loose
Clemson
The calendar reads January and to this point, the ACC is a disaster. Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida State have all been disappointing, while other teams like Louisville and Syracuse have been inconsistent and/or injured. We could talk about each of the teams in this conference and talk about why they could be playing better, but instead, let’s focus on the recent play of Clemson.
They haven’t had the hardest schedule in the world, but Clemson has taken advantage of the games they have played. In this last week, they defeated #18 Florida State by ten and then held on for a nice road win at Miami, with Aamir Simms’s 25 points leading the way.
Clemson is now ranked #19 in the country, which is actually tied for the highest-ranking among the ACC teams currently. Their lone loss in the season was a road game at Virginia Tech back in December, which is completely forgivable with how the Hokies have played this season. Clemson boasts nonconference wins over Purdue, Maryland, Mississippi State, and Alabama, and it’ll be interesting to see how those wins will boost their resume by season’s end.
With the disappointment in their league, it’s very possible that Clemson could win a suddenly open ACC. There’s no telling when a team like Duke or Louisville will get things going again, but the Tigers have shown they’re for real with their play to this point. Time will tell how many teams the ACC gets into the dance, but Clemson will likely be one of them, barring a collapse; their play these next few weeks will go a long way to determining how good a seed they’ll grab.