Clemson has consistently been slotted in the Nos. 6-8 seeds of NCAA tournament projections by bracketologists in recent weeks.
The team’s recent three-game win streak before last weekend’s loss to NC State has bumped the Tigers up to a 5 seed in the latest bracketology projections from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
Lunardi’s new predictions have Clemson (17-8 overall, 7-7 ACC) facing projected Southern Conference champion Samford. The Bulldogs are 23-4 overall and 12-2 in conference play.
The projected 5 vs. 12 matchup would be held in Spokane, Washington, Lunardi forecasts. In the same Spokane region of the bracket with Clemson and Samford are projected No. 4 seed Creighton from the Big East and projected 13 seed UC Irvine of the Big West conference.
Similar to last week, Lunardi predicts that Clemson will be one of just four ACC schools that will make the NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday. ACC leader North Carolina (20-6, 12-3), Duke (20-5, 11-3), and Virginia (20-7, 11-5) are the other three projected ACC members who will make the field of 68 in Lunardi’s latest update.
The longtime bracketologist awards the SEC and Big 12 with the most bids by conference with nine apiece.
Clemson will look to improve its seeding when it returns to the court Wednesday night in Atlanta against Georgia Tech. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. EST tipoff and will be televised by ACC Network.