As Clemson gets set to face Virginia Tech today at Cassell Coliseum, it does it with the knowledge of knowing what opportunities lay ahead in the last month of the season.

With news of Louisville’s self-imposed post-season ban, the Tigers are even more in the conversation as a possible top-four seed in next month’s ACC basketball tournament. Clemson stands a half game back of the Cardinals for second place already, tied with Virginia for third place.

The Tigers (14-8, 7-3 ACC) are also in position to do something that has not been done since Brad Brownell’s first season at Clemson – receive an NCAA Tournament bid.

“We are still focusing on teams ahead of us and the game and week we have ahead of us,” Brownell said. “We are trying not to get too worried about all the other things like standings, in the tournament, out of the tournament, RPIs … That does not do us a lot of good.”

But the Tigers can’t ignore the fact that January’s run in the ACC, a slate which includes wins over four-ranked teams (Louisville, Duke, Miami and Pittsburgh). Despite a weak non-conference schedule, their in-conference slate and success has placed them in a position where they could go dancing in March.

Clemson already has six wins over teams currently ranked inside the top 50 of the RPI. That is tied for fourth in the country behind Virginia, Iowa and Oregon.

“We just need to practice. We need to get better and we need to focus on the things we can control and try to have good great energy and effort,” Brownell said. “It is a long season in basketball, but I’m really proud of the way our guys have played and the energy and effort they are playing with.”

The Tigers will have to play with that same energy and effort today when they tip off at 4 p.m. against Virginia Tech. The Hokies (12-11, 4-6 ACC) will host a maroon out inside a packed Cassell Coliseum.

Clemson is 4-4 at Virginia Tech since the Hokies joined the ACC in 2004-2005. The Tigers won the last meeting the two had in Blacksburg in 2014. Overall, Clemson has won four straight in a series that is knotted up at 15.

“It is difficult. It is loud in there and supposedly they are going to have a maroon out. I’m sure it will be a great crowd and Buzz (Williams) has them playing at a very high level,” Brownell said.

Virginia Tech, who is averaging 76 points per game and is led by Zach LeDay’s 15.8 points and 8.1 rebounds, have lost five straight games after winning 12 of its first 18, including a 4-1 start in the ACC.

“They are very a physical and strong team,” Brownell said. “They have some older guys. They have a couple of good transfers that have really come in and helped the team nicely. They compete really hard. It will be a very physical, tough game.”

And that itself will be hard for the Tigers, who come back to the Bon Secours Wellness Center on Monday night for a date with Notre Dame. It marks the only time this year the Tigers will have a 48-hour turnaround in between games.

Clemson and the Irish tip off at 9 p.m. on Monday on ESPNU.

“I have had this throughout my career with different mid-majors. You get exposed to this. It is more about learning how to handle the middle day as opposed to game day and all of that kind of stuff,” Brownell said. “Kids are pretty resilient. They should be fine. It’s about how to prepare them as best you can and give them enough information the best you can without overloading them in a short amount of time.

“We are a prep team. We are a team that does a lot of scouting and puts a lot of time into film and all those kinds of things. More than some so we have to learn how to manage that and make sure our guys are ready to compete when it is time to go.”

The good news is Notre Dame will be the first of three straight home games for the Tigers after three straight on the road.

“That feels good. We had three on the road, now we get three coming back, but right now we have to worry about beating Virginia Tech,” Brownell said.