In late February, ESPN’s men’s college basketball “Bubble Watch” – tracking which teams will make, or miss, the NCAA Tournament – dropped Clemson from tournament “lock” status following the Tigers’ four-game losing streak.

However, ESPN says Clemson has now re-entered lock status after beating North Carolina.

After the fifth-seeded Tigers’ 80-79 victory over the fourth-seeded Tar Heels on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament, ESPN’s latest “Bubble Watch” moved Clemson up into the category of ACC teams that are tournament “locks” – alongside Duke, Virginia, North Carolina, Louisville and Miami.

ESPN’s Neil Paine defines NCAA Tournament “locks” as “teams that have nearly a 100% chance to be called by the committee as an at-large selection without a conference tournament crown. There would need to be significant development that keeps them from making the field.”

Clemson’s four-game losing streak — vs. Virginia Tech on Feb. 11, at Duke on Feb. 14, at Wake Forest on Feb. 18, and vs. Florida State on Feb. 21 – marked the first time the Tigers had lost four games in a row since the 2021-22 season.

But the Tigers (24-9) have rebounded since with victories in four of their last five games, including wins over UNC and Wake Forest in the ACC Tourney.

Clemson will face top-seeded Duke on Friday night in the semifinals. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

Below Clemson and the other ACC teams that ESPN has as tournament “locks”, NC State is listed as an ACC team that “should be in” the Big Dance, while SMU and Stanford are listed as the ACC teams that will be “sweating out Selection Sunday.”