Clemson Earns 14th NCAA Tournament Bid
By: will-vandervort March 17, 2024

CLEMSON — The Clemson men’s basketball team learned Sunday evening where it will play in next week’s NCAA Basketball Tournament.

The Tigers earned a No. 6 seed in the West Regional. They will play No. 11 seed New Mexico on Friday in Memphis, Tenn. This year will mark Clemson’s first tournament appearance since 2021.

Sunday’s selection marks the 14th time in the program’s history Clemson earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. This will be the Tigers’ fourth trip under head coach Brad Brownell, the most tournament appearances for any coach in the program’s history.

Brownell’s Clemson teams have a 3-3 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, including a Sweet 16 run in 2018. With a win in the tournament, he will also become the school’s all-time winningest coach in the NCAA Tournament.

Currently, Brownell and former coaches Bill Foster and Cliff Ellis each have three victories in the tournament. Foster was 3-1 in the tournament, while Ellis was 3-3 in his three appearances.

Rick Barnes, now the head coach at Tennessee, was 2-3 in the NCAA Tournament at Clemson, while Oliver Purnell was 0-3 in his three appearances.

Clemson’s all-time record in the NCAA Tournament is 11-13. The Tigers have been to the Elite 8 once–they did that in their first year making the  tournament in1980–and to the Sweet 16 four times (1980, 1990, 1997 and 2018).

The Tigers have never reached the Final Four.

After being left out of the tournament last season, despite a 23-11 record, which included a 14-6 mark in the ACC and a third place finish, the Tigers went 21-11 this year and were sixth in the ACC with an 11-9 record.

The difference this year is Clemson’s strength of schedule (SOS) and NCAA Net Ranking, two factors the selection committee values during the selection process. The Tigers ranked 60th in the NET Rankings in 2023, while their SOS ranked 315.

Clemson’s SOS this year is 51st, according to KenPom, while its non-conference SOS is ranked No. 27. The Tigers enter selection Sunday ranked No. 35 in the NET.

The Tigers (5-5) have five Quad 1 wins in the NET Rankings, which is tied with Duke (5-4) for the second most Quad 1 wins in the ACC. The Tigers are 5-5 in Quad 2 wins and are a combined 11-1 against Quad 3 and Quad 4 teams.

A limited number of signed footballs from Clemson’s 2022 class are still available.  Get yours while supplies last!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!