With five games to go in the regular season, including tonight’s ACC battle with Boston College in Greenville, the Clemson basketball program has an uphill battle as it tries to earn itself an NCAA Tournament bid.

At 15-10 the Tigers are currently sitting on the outside looking in thanks to a rating percentage index of 89 and strength of schedule of 76 heading into the BC game. But an 8-5 record in the ACC, and the fact they are just a game out of fourth place in the standings, the potential to sneak into the Big Dance is very much alive.

A win tonight, plus four more wins at NC State, at Georgia Tech, vs. Virginia and at Boston College over the next two weeks can a long way in helping Clemson find itself in the brackets come Selection Sunday.

“What you want from most teams is to be in this position with a couple of weeks left. You have the opportunity to go to the tournament and you are trying to play your way in,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “There are a handful of teams that already know for sure they are in, but there are probably fifty of us that are in a situation where it is kind of how we play the last two or three weeks of the season.

“I hope our team just executes and plays well.”

Even that doesn’t guarantee a bid. Clemson was in this very same position two years ago. It finished the regular season by winning four of its final six games to finish 19-11 overall and 10-8 in the ACC. The Tigers then added a win over Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament and nearly knocked off No. 7 Duke in the quarterfinals the next day.

It all appeared to be enough to possibly get in the Field of 68, but it wasn’t. The Tigers ultimately went to the NIT and advanced to that tournament’s Final Four in New York. They finished the season 23-13.

“Momentum this time of year is critical in terms of trying to be in a positive frame of mind and feeling good about yourself as you approach each game,” Brownell said. “That’s one of the things that are hard about the league – it is hard to string a lot of consecutive wins together because there are so many good teams and there is so much depth.”

Brownell still feels his team has a chance to go on a better run than it did in 2014 because he likes the makeup of this year’s squad. Two years ago, they had K.J. McDaniels playing at a high level with some younger players just along for the ride.

And though this year’s star, Jaron Blossomgame, is having an All-ACC caliber season like McDaniels did, he has more help. Clemson is a better shooting team for one. It also has more experienced role players like Donte Grantham, Jordan Roper, Avry Holmes and Landry Nnoko. They give the Tigers more scoring options than what the 2014 team had.

“I think we are a little more dynamic offensively then some of the teams we have had here. We have a few more weapons so maybe that helps us,” Brownell said. “Experience is not a factor. We have older players, guys that have been through the wars of the league, so we are not going to be wide-eyed about any of that. It is still really hard to win games on the road so that will be really challenging for us here down the stretch with several road games left.”