Clemson Basketball Faces Legendary Coach in Latest Bracketology Projection
Clemson was hoping to build upon their Cinderella run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament last year by having another strong showing this season, and so far, it's hard to argue they haven't done that.
Coming off a three-year contract extension, head coach Brad Brownell has his team sitting with a 13-4 overall record and 5-1 in conference play, putting them tied for second with Louisville heading into their Tuesday matchup against Georgia Tech.
What they have to monitor is the health of Ian Schieffelin, who Brownell said would be good to go without missing any time, but was clearly affected by the back spasms he had in their last game.
If he's not effective, then it will be hard for the Tigers to sustain the level of play they've had so far.
But if the issues subside and he's able to produce, Clemson can start looking ahead to some potential matchups in March even though it's only the midpoint in January.
In the latest Bracketology projections by Joe Lunardi of ESPN, he has the Tigers earning the ninth seed in the South region, competing in the Lexington in the first round.
Who are they facing?
None other than St. John's and legendary coach Rick Pitino.
This would be a great matchup because both teams are ranked inside the top 65 in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency by Bart Torvik at the time of writing, and both are even better on the other end of the court with St. John's sitting 11th and Clemson 38th in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency.
Add the fact that Pitino would be returning to Lexington, Kentucky, the place he won a national championship as the head coach of the Kentucky in 1996 before he abruptly left after a runner-up finish the following year to take the Boston Celtics job, and this should be fireworks.
Of course, everything has to play out the right way for this to happen.
The Red Storm are 14-3 overall right now and 5-1 in Big East play, tied for second in the conference with UConn.
Clemson has to make sure they beat the teams on their schedule they should, and winning on the road against Georgia Tech, no matter how difficult that is in college basketball, certainly would go a long way to make sure the Tigers have a spot locked up in March Madness.