Bracketology 2021: Ohio State, USC, and St. John’s among big winners

Clemson

There is no question that the ACC is a fantastic basketball conference but this year it’s been very disappointing. Virginia is great as per usual, but the teams that are struggling are numerous, including usual powers Duke, North Carolina, and Syracuse. In spite of these struggles, there is still at least one team that had a good week.

Clemson took advantage, scoring a pair of home wins over those struggling teams. They took care of the Tar Heels with a 13-point win on Tuesday. On Saturday, they took out Syracuse by 17 points, with Aamir Simms showing up with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win. The Tigers had been scuffling recently but really got back on track this week.

Clemson is now 12-5, with a respectable 6-5 mark in the ACC. The team that got destroyed by Duke just over a week ago bounced back in a major way this week. Clemson was previously ranked this year but have had some significant struggles, with nearly all of their losses coming in blowouts. Early-season wins over Alabama and Purdue continue to grow in magnitude.

Like we said, the ACC is not its usual self this season and wins over North Carolina and Syracuse aren’t as impressive. Still, this week put Clemson back on track and every remaining game on their schedule is winnable. If they can get on another run, they can finish near the top of the ACC and put themselves in solid position by Selection Sunday.