Clemson’s men’s basketball team put more gold stars on its postseason resume this week, resulting in a significant bump for the Tigers in the metrics.

Clemson is up to No. 54 in the NET ratings updated Sunday. That’s a jump of more than 20 spots for the Tigers, who began last week in the high 70s. The NET, or NCAA Evaluation Tool, is one of the primary metrics used by the selection committee to decide on at-large teams for the NCAA Tournament, taking factors such as strength of schedule, game location and scoring margin into account.

There’s still a lot of basketball to play with eight weeks of the regular season remaining. It’s worth noting, though, that Clemson’s rise puts the Tigers squarely in the at-large picture for now. The lowest-ranked team in the NET to receive an at-large bid into last year’s tournament was Rutgers at No. 77.

Clemson, which is riding a season-best five-game winning streak, has improved its NET ranking 34 spots since debuting in at No. 88 early last month.

The most recent leap came after the Tigers notched road wins over Virginia Tech and Pitt in a four-day span, giving Clemson a pair of precious Quad 1 victories. Clemson started the week with its win over the Hokies on Wednesday before rallying from an eight-point deficit in the final minutes Saturday to hold off Pitt, which had only lost one home game prior to the Tigers’ 75-74 victory.

It was a much-needed week for the Tigers, who also have two Quad 4 losses (South Carolina, Loyola Chicago) on their resume. But with NC State moving up to No. 28 in the updated rankings, the Tigers’ home win over Wolfpack late last month now moves into the first quadrant, giving Clemson a third Quad 1 victory for the time being.

Clemson, which is just three wins away from matching its conference regular-season win total from last season, is a combined 4-1 against the first two quadrants.

The Tigers have another week of opportunity awaiting it with home games against Louisville and Duke next on the schedule. The Tigers will try to improve to 6-0 in ACC play Wednesday against the Cardinals, who have yet to win a conference game. Then Clemson on Saturday gets its crack at the Blue Devils, which, for now, is a chance for the Tigers to notch another Quad 1 victory with Duke sitting at No. 23 in the NET.

The Tigers’ hot start in league play has been spearheaded by a balanced effort from their veteran players. Hunter Tyson (15.4 points per game), Chase Hunter (14.6), PJ Hall (12.5) and Brevin Galloway (10.1) are all averaging double figures. Tyson has been the primary catalyst with four straight double-doubles. The Tigers’ fifth-year forward is averaging 18.2 points and 13 boards during that stretch.

Dear Old Clemson has added the Tiger Sack Pack to our online store.  Save by getting the Two Pack of signed cards from two of the nation’s top defensive ends, Myles Murphy and Xavier Thomas.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. 

Dear Old Clemson is doing NIL the ‘Clemson way’, but we need your help to make sure we build a sustainable, repeatable model that will help keep Clemson competitive with the other top programs around the nation.

Dabo Swinney: “We need your assistance more than ever to provide meaningful NIL opportunities. Tiger Impact, Dear Old Clemson and other collectives allow student-athletes to utilize their voice and platform to maximize their NIL opportunities and strengthen their impact in the community.”

Graham Neff:
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