Bracketology 2023: Complete Bubble Watch before final weekend of regular season
By Joey Loose
Clemson: 21-9 (13-6 in ACC) NET: 64
An ACC team that’s won 21 games, including 13 conference games, is usually a team you’d see in the NCAA Tournament. However, Clemson still has some serious work ahead. It doesn’t help that it’s a big down year for the ACC, perhaps a big part of why they’re near the top of the league standings. The Tigers beat Duke and swept both NC State and Virginia Tech, but it’s the bottom of their resume that hurts them more.
The Tigers have two Quad 3 losses and two Quad 4 losses, which really is terrible for any potential bubble team. What’s even worse is that both Quad 4 losses, which came against Loyola-Chicago in December and Louisville two weeks ago, came by double-digits. They’ve also been beaten by South Carolina and Boston College, two teams not exactly renowned in their respective conferences. Can the Tigers really overcome these shortcomings?
They’d be out of the NCAA Tournament if it started today and they can forget about an invitation if they don’t take care of Notre Dame this weekend. They’ll likely be a decent seed in the ACC Tournament, which means that winning multiple conference tournament games will be necessary to get themselves into position. Even then, they might need to upset a couple of those top ACC teams (Miami, Pittsburgh, or Virginia) to feel good about their standing.