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Clemson Basketball: 3 reasons why Tigers will miss the NCAA Tournament

Jan 28, 2023; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Brad Brownell looks on during a game against the Florida State Seminoles at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 28, 2023; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Brad Brownell looks on during a game against the Florida State Seminoles at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports /
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Clemson Basketball
Clemson Basketball(Photo by Ryan Hunt/Getty Images) /

Entering this week, Clemson Basketball was ranked in the top 20 of the latest AP poll and led Virginia by one game in the ACC standings. On paper, they look to be in great shape to make the NCAA Tournament for the third time in six years under head coach Brad Brownell.

But when looking at the resume, the Tigers might have some flaws that could be a problem going forward. And those issues have been ignited on Tuesday night, taking on Boston College on the road. The game was off to a slow start, with neither team getting anything going.

But the Eagles went on a big run to take a halftime lead and after a back-and-forth battle, went on to pull off the upset, 62-54. The balanced effort by the underdogs was better than the one-man show at Clemson, with Hunter Tyson as the lead scorer with 22 points on 6/13 shooting.

The loss moves the Tigers to 18-5 overall and 10-2 in ACC play, a half-game over Virginia to remain in first place. But now that we’re in February, the Bracketology part of a team’s resume matters most. And that registers as a Quad 3 loss for Clemson, who already has some bad losses on its resume, to begin with.

Before the game, Clemson was a projected 9 seed in our latest Bracketology. This loss could very well drop them to around a 10, which would put them squarely in the bubble conversation. There’s a month left of games to play and the Tigers have plenty of chances to become safely in the field but I’m not buying it. Here are the three reasons why.