Clemson suffered a 69-62 loss on Saturday to a Notre Dame team that’s been near the bottom of ACC standings all season long. How much did that loss cost the Tigers in projected NCAA Tournament seeding?
As it turns out, nothing — at least according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. Despite the loss, Clemson (20-9 overall, 10-8 ACC) held as a No. 5 seed in Lunardi’s latest bracketology rankings, released Tuesday.
The Tigers climbed to a 5 seed after their win over Pitt last week. Lunardi forecasts a first-round 5 vs. 12 seed matchup between Clemson and Richmond, which leads a crowded Atlantic 10 conference entering the week at 14-2 (22-7 overall). Richmond is one game ahead of Loyola (Chicago) and two games ahead of Dayton in league standings.
The potential Clemson-Richmond tilt would take place at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in the Midwest Region of the tournament. No. 4 seed Kentucky and 13 seed Appalachian State are in the same Brooklyn wing of Lunardi’s latest projections.
ACC leader North Carolina is a projected No. 2 seed with Duke as a 3 seed. Virginia is a projected 11 seed, as is Wake Forest. The Cavaliers and Demon Deacons join Seton Hall and New Mexico as part of Lunardi’s “Last Four In.”
Lunardi awards the most NCAA tournament bids by conference to the Big 12 with nine, followed by the SEC with seven. His projected No. 1 seeds are Purdue, Houston, UConn, and Arizona.
Clemson returns to the court Tuesday when the Tigers host Syracuse on Senior Night at Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (EST). The game will be televised on ESPN2.