Clemson Tigers Drop Out of AP Top-25 After a Challenging Week with Mixed Results

After a week with a win and a loss, the Clemson Tigers have dropped out of the Top-25.

Dec 17, 2024; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Clemson Tigers guard Jake Heidbreder (3) reacts following South Carolina’s 91-88 overtime win at Colonial Life Arena. / Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers were able to wrap up the calander year this week with some mixed results against two opponents.

As the Tigers looked to wrap up the year on a strong note, there have been some mixed results of late. Just a couple of weeks ago, Clemson found themselves ranked 16th in the country following a big win against the Kentucky Wildcats. The win against the Wildcats will be one to remember come March. At the time, Kentucky was ranked fourth in the country, marking a massive victory for the program.

However, since the impressive victory, the Tigers have struggled somewhat with a (2-2) record over the last four games. Following a win over the Miami Hurricanes in their first confrernce game of the season, Clemson suffered an overtime loss to the Memphis Tigers at home.

The (1-1) record last week resulted in the Tigers dropping nine spots to 25th in the AP Top-25.

However, after another (1-1) week, Clemson is now no longer ranked. To start last week, the Tigers faced their in-state rival, which resulted in another overtime loss. The South Carolina Gamecocks are a pretty solid basketball program so far this year, and the loss by the Tigers resulted in them being ousted from the Top-25.

Luckily, in their last game of the calander year, Clemson was able to bounce back with a comfortable win at home against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The win moves the Tigers to a modest (2-0) in the ACC early on.

Now, they will have some time off with the holidays coming up before they will be back on New Year's Day with the ACC schedule firing up. After the little break, Clemson will be playing three games in less than a week, starting against the Stanford Cardinal at home. Following that, they will be playing the Cal Golden Bears, and the Louisville Cardinals.

If the Tigers are able to have a strong week against ACC opponents, it could be enough to get them back into the Top-25.