Clemson basketball: Tigers to face Loyola Chicago in Atlanta

Clemson basketball to take on 2022 tournament team in Hoopsgiving in December.

Clemson basketball will face off against Loyola Chicago on December 10 in Atlanta as part of the Holiday Hoopsgiving Quadruple header it was announced Friday.

https://twitter.com/ClemsonMBB/status/1542910997685420032

"The Clemson University men’s basketball team will face-off against Loyola Chicago as part of the Holiday Hoopsgiving quadruple header, which will be played on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022 in Atlanta at State Farm Arena – home of the Atlanta Hawks. The event is organized by the VII Group.The Tigers have gone 2-0 in this event previously with wins over Alabama in 2020 (64-56) and Drake in 2021 (90-80, OT).Tickets, game times and television designations will be announced at a later date."

Loyola Chicago has a storied history and a recent run to the Final Four

The Ramblers play in the Missouri Valley Conference, finished last season 26-8 and were a 10th seed in the NCAA Tournament where they won the open round game before falling to Ohio State.

The 2018 Ramblers team gained national publicity  in 2018, making a Cinderella run  to reach the Final Four as an 11 seed, tying for the lowest seed ever to go that far and with their team chaplain, 98 year old nun Sister Jean, becoming a media sensation while cheering them on.

So far, Clemson’s early schedule shows the Tigers playing in the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Florida on November 25th (Iowa) and 26th (California or TCU) and hosting Penn State on November 29th as part of the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, along with the Loyola Chicago game.

Brownell, of course, is thought to be on the hot seat heading into his thirteenth season with the Tigers with a 218-166 record with the school.

There are many that felt a change should have been made in basketball prior to baseball and there’s a general feeling that new Director of Athletics Graham Neff may be less tied to Brownell than Dan Radakovich was and the pressure is on Brownell to produce this season.