The Clemson Tigers are hoping to build off a historic season in 2023-24. Coach Brad Brownell’s squad made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed and reeled off three straight wins to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1980. The Tigers fell 89-82 to the Alabama Crimson Tide with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
How far the Tigers can go after a deep NCAA Tournament run is anyone’s guess, but the 2024-25 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings (KenPom) were released Monday.
Clemson landed at No. 24 with a net plus rating of +18.62. The Tigers are rated one spot ahead of John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks and one spot below the Illinois Fighting Illini.
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Coach Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars topped the KenPom ratings at +29.45, followed by the Duke Blue Devils (+26.67) at No. 2 and the Auburn Tigers (+26.21) at No. 3.
Alabama (No. 4, +25.66) and the two-time defending national champion UConn Huskies (No. 5, +25.58) rounded out the top five. Aside from Duke and Clemson, the only other ACC team that cracked the Top 25 KenPom ratings were the North Carolina Tar Heels (+22.14) at No. 14.
KenPom explains their ratings this way:
“The purpose of this system is to show how strong a team would be if it played tonight, independent of injuries or emotional factors. Since nobody can see every team play all (or even most) of their games, this system is designed to give a snapshot of a team’s current level of play.”
Clemson opens the 2024-25 regular season Nov. 4 against Charleston Southern at 7 p.m. ET at Littlejohn Coliseum.
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