Clemson Bubble Watch
By: william-qualkinbush February 8, 2016

February is here, and that means March Madness is beginning to take shape. The Clemson basketball team finds itself right in the thick of the NCAA Tournament picture. Through the end of the season, TCI will have a regular update of the Tigers’ body of work complete with RPI ranking, KenPom.com ranking, and a percentage chance the Tigers are included in the field courtesy of TeamRankings.com, along with the differentials since the last update.

Record: 14-9 (7-4 ACC)

RPI: 83rd (-7, 6-4 Top 50, 7-6 Top 100)

KenPom.com: 52nd (-3)

Chances: 21.4% (-10.4%)

Qualk’s Take: The prospect of Clemson dancing in March took a minor hit on Saturday when a winnable game in Blacksburg went the way of the opposition. Virginia Tech’s home win over the Tigers isn’t a disqualifying win, and it probably didn’t change opinions about Clemson around the country by itself. There were, however, a flurry of bubble teams that improved their respective positions over the weekend. This means the Tigers are probably outside your tournament field regardless of which aspects of the data matter more to you. That could change quickly should they win at home against a Notre Dame team playing on a short turnaround tonight.

Here are some games to watch tonight that could impact Clemson’s NCAA Tournament chances…

Louisville at Duke (-3.5), 7:00 PM, ESPN: Louisville’s self-imposed postseason ban changes the landscape of the selection process, but the Tigers still need the Cardinals to win some games in league play so they remain in the RPI’s upper crust. With that being said, having Duke protect its home court would be big for Clemson here since the Blue Devils are still behind the Tigers by a half game in the ACC standings. Plus, finishing ahead of Louisville legitimizes Clemson’s ranking within the league, as opposed to finishing one step higher once Rick Pitino’s team is removed from the equation.

VMI at Wofford, 7:00 PM: Clemson’s best non conference RPI win? Yep, it’s Wofford. The Terriers currently sit at 187th in those rankings, which perfectly epitomizes Clemson’s struggle to prove its worth given a weak pre-conference body of work. The Terriers need to keep climbing, at least in part, in order for the Tigers to keep climbing. That shouldn’t be a problem against the Keydets tonight, but it bears watching moving forward.