Planning a non-conference schedule in college basketball is a battle of risk and reward. Clemson took both of these concepts and have managed to take massive advantage through a challenging slate early in the year.

The Tigers’ most recently took down TCU Saturday in a neutral site, good for a Quadrant 1 win. That’s the key in the NET system, something head coach Brad Brownell has talked at lengths about, and now he’s taking advantage of.

Clemson now has four Quadrant 1 wins on the season. It started with taking on the Asheville Championship. This veteran team was still meshing, yet found a way to win twice over the second weekend in November.

Momentum is paramount in this sport, and the Tigers are riding a tidal wave of it through their non-conference schedule. A statement win over then-ranked Alabama on the road, an early road ACC win over Pittsburgh, the list goes on.

Brownell crafted a perfect start to the season, even while battling through the absences of Jack Clark and Alex Hemenway, players he said he expected to be two of his top six. The additions through the transfer portal and the development of returning talent galvanized a 9-0 start.

The Tigers stand alone as the only team undefeated with four Quadrant 1 wins. The only other team with four wins in the category is…*checks notes*… National championship favorite Purdue. Pretty solid company and one that Clemson still stands above.

Even after this impressive start, the Tigers’ work isn’t done as it sits No. 14 in the latest NET rankings. A true road game agaisnt Memphis waits next weekend, a chance to move to 5-0 in Quadrant 1 before the ACC season truly begins in January.

Brownell is a critic of the NET, but he’s manipulating the system for the best start of the season for anyone in the sport, and this team shows no sign of letting off the gas.