Ahead of the ACC Tournament, should Clemson feel better about its NCAA Tournament at-large chances after the season-closing win over Georgia Tech?

ESPN’s latest men’s college basketball “Bubble Watch” – tracking which teams will make, or miss, the NCAA Tournament – still has Clemson in the category of teams that “should be in” the Big Dance – in other words, as defined by ESPN, “Teams tracking safely above the cutline (generally 75% consensus at-large odds or better), but not immune to trouble. Most likely, these teams should hear their names called on March 15, though their fates are not yet assured.”

Here’s what ESPN’s Neil Paine wrote about the Tigers, who finished the 2025-26 regular season with a 22-9 overall record (12-6 ACC) after Saturday’s 79-76 victory over the Yellow Jackets at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson:

“After five losses in six games, the Tigers took care of business as heavy favorites over Georgia Tech to close out the regular season on Saturday. It didn’t really change things for them, however, with their consensus at-large chances remaining at 94%. Clemson will end up ranked no worse than seventh in the ACC in résumé average — still high enough in the ACC’s pecking order to feel optimistic about its chances ahead of the league tournament, in what’s looking like an eight-bid conference.”

Clemson earned the No. 5 seed in the ACC Tournament after tying with North Carolina for fourth place in the ACC standings. The Tar Heels, however, claimed the No. 4 seed by virtue of their win over the Tigers on March 3.

Clemson will play the winner of the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest game on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. in the second round of the ACC Tournament (ESPN2/ESPNU). The Hokies, the No. 12 seed, will play Wake Forest, the No. 13 seed, at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ACC Network) in the first round of the tournament.

Clemson is familiar with Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, as both teams beat the Tigers last month as part of the program’s four-game losing streak.

As far as the ACC goes, ESPN’s Bubble Watch lists Miami and NC State as teams that “should be in” the NCAA Tournament, along with Clemson.

Duke, Virginia, North Carolina and Louisville are all listed as tournament “locks”, while SMU, Stanford, Virginia Tech and Cal are all currently listed as having “work to do” to make the tourney.