The NCAA’s men’s basketball selection committee revealed its bracket preview of the top 16 teams for the 2024 NCAA tournament Saturday.
The rankings provide insight into the selection committee’s thought process on which schools have done the most to earn consideration for top seeding.
This year, they also provided good news for Clemson. The Tigers’ résumé and recent winning streak appear to have propelled the team from “likely in” status to that of a lock.
That seems to be the consensus, anyway, after committee chair Charles McClelland said Saturday that Clemson was one of the schools in the conversation for the committee’s 16th team. Being included in that conversation is a good measuring stick for determining how likely a school is to make the tournament.
The Tigers (17-7 overall) join North Carolina and Duke as the only ACC schools considered to be a lock for the tournament at this point. North Carolina was ranked fifth overall by the selection committee while Duke placed 12th.
Purdue was ranked the committee’s overall No. 1 seed. The Boilermakers entered the weekend 23-2 overall and have seven first quadrant (or Quad 1) victories.
Purdue edged out defending national champion UConn in the committee’s rankings. Houston and Arizona were ranked No. 3 and 4, respectively, meaning that the committee sees those schools as the four No. 1 seeds if the tournament were to begin today.
Selection Sunday is March 17, one day after the ACC Tournament Championship Game in Washington, DC.