For the second straight week, the Coaches Poll has Clemson’s basketball team ranked in its weekly poll. In fact, the Tigers moved up four spots in their poll, from No. 25 last week to No. 21 following their 10-point victory at NC State.

Guess where Clemson is ranked in the Associated Press Poll?

It’s not ranked.

Yep, once again, the media does not have the Tigers ranked in its weekly poll.

Why?

I have no idea.

Clemson (18-4, 10-1 ACC) tallied 182 points in this week’s AP Poll, good enough to be the first team listed in the “Others receiving votes” category and two points behind No. 25 Ole Miss, a Rebels team that has lost four of their last five games.

The Tigers on the other hand have won six straight games and eight of their last nine. Yet Old Miss is the top 25 team and Clemson’s is not?

Mississippi State, ranked No. 14 last week, got beat by 27 points at home to now No. 15 Missouri. It was the Bulldogs’ third loss in the last four games.

Their only win in that span is to win-less South Carolina in SEC play. Mississippi State is now 16-6 overall and just 4-5 in the SEC.

Ole Miss is 5-4 in the SEC and 16-6 overall, as well.

Two average teams in the SEC are somehow ranked and a team that is 10-1 in another Power 4 Conference isn’t.

And don’t give me the metric crap. Clemson came into Monday’s game ranked No. 30 in the NET, while Mississippi State is ranked 31. That argument does not hold water.

I will tell you why Clemson is not ranked. It is because the majority of the AP voters are lazy.

They are going by the NET rankings instead of actually paying attention to what a team is or is not doing on the basketball court. If they are paying attention, there is no way they have Ole Miss and Mississippi State ahead of Clemson in their rankings.

Also, why is Ole Miss getting the benefit of the doubt playing good teams and losing and Clemson did not.

Example, back in Week 6, the Tigers were 9-1 and ranked No. 16 and lost in overtime the next week to Memphis, who is currently ranked No. 17 in the country. As a matter of fact, Memphis moved up to No. 21 in the AP Poll after beating Clemson, and Clemson fell all the way down to No. 25.

The next week, the Tigers fell out of the polls following another overtime loss, this time to South Carolina on the road in a rivalry game.

Ole Miss, however, has lost four its last five games and it is still ranked, as is Mississippi State, who has lost three of its last four. Oh, by the way, they also played each other a few weeks back, which the Bulldogs won in overtime.

Isn’t that interesting.

I would be willing to bet, most of the AP voters who did not rank Clemson or had Clemson barely ranked on their ballots this week even know Clemson is 10-1 in ACC play.

I doubt they know Clemson has won six straight games.

I doubt they know Clemson has won eight of its last nine games.

I doubt they know two of Clemson’s four losses have come in overtime.

In basketball, I normally do not care if a team is ranked or not because it really does not matter in the grand scheme of things. It is going to be played out in the NCAA Tournament and making the field of 68 is all that matters.

However, there is a level of respect Clemson has earned, I think, and they are not getting it from the majority of the national media.

Following a run to the Elite 8 in last year’s NCAA Tournament, the Tigers are off to an 18-4 start, which includes a win over No. 14 Kentucky, who was ranked No. 4 at the time they beat them. It’s not like the Tigers are this upstart team that came out of nowhere.

This is a veteran led team that is led by one of the more dynamic shooting guards in college basketball in Chase Hunter. This is the same Chase Hunter that lit up everyone during Clemson’s run to the Elite 8.

It’s hard to understand why Clemson, who has good metric scores, has played a tough schedule and is blowing teams out is not ranked. The Tigers have won eight of their last nine games, as mentioned above, and every win is by 10 or more points.

Their average margin of victory during their six-game win streak is 13.6 points.

The only explanation on why Clemson is not ranked is simple – AP voters are lazy.