Where does Clemson’s loss in the men’s NCAA Tournament rank on ESPN’s list of those that hurt the most?

ESPN released a men’s March Madness Pain Index, breaking down every team’s exit into eight different tiers.

Clemson suffered a first-round NCAA Tourney exit for the second straight season. This year, the eighth-seeded Tigers fell to No. 9 seed Iowa by a score of 67-61 in the South Regional at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Fla. on March 20.

In ESPN’s March Madness Pain Index, which ranks the losses from most painful (No. 1) to least painful (No. 52), Clemson ranks No. 13 among the 52 teams that have been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers are categorized in the tier of “emotional roller coaster” – or, as defined by ESPN, teams that “had us at the edge of our seat and biting our nails.”

According to ESPN, Clemson’s peak win probability in the matchup vs. Iowa was 51% at tipoff.

“The Tigers did well to stem the tide after Carter Welling tore his ACL in the team’s opening game of the ACC tournament,” ESPN’s Kevin Pulsifer wrote. “And it was clear this was a team that was greater than the sum of its parts — more than 340 teams had a leading scorer who averaged more points than Clemson’s RJ Godfrey (12.0 PPG). Knocking off North Carolina in the ACC quarterfinals was a morale booster, as was keeping pace with an Iowa team that would go on to topple defending champion Florida two days later. At just 54 possessions, this game was quite possibly the slowest-paced in all of Division I this season, too, meaning every single basket felt monumental, and every miss equally devastating.”

Playing in Tampa has been painful for the Clemson men’s basketball program, as the Tigers are now 0-4 all-time in Tampa.

The matchup against Iowa marked Clemson’s 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including the sixth appearance under Brad Brownell, the most under any head coach in school history. The Tigers have a 14-16 record in games played in the tournament, including a 6-6 record under Brownell.

Clemson has advanced to the Elite Eight twice (1980; 2024) and the Sweet 16 five times (1990, 1997 and 2018 in addition to 1980 and 2024).

Clemson advanced to its third consecutive NCAA Tournament for the third time in school history. Brownell became the third coach to take the Tigers to three straight tournaments, joining Rick Barnes and Oliver Purnell.

After beating Clemson, Iowa went on to pull off a major 73-72 upset against No. 1 seed Florida in the second-round NCAA Tournament matchup on March 22. As a result, the Gators rank No. 1 in ESPN’s March Madness Pain Index.

–The Clemson Insider’s Will Vandervort contributed to this story