Clemson Men’s Basketball: Next couple weeks are critical to postseason positioning

Clemson Men’s Basketball sits atop the ACC standings at 7-0. The Tigers are now ranked in the AP Top 25 at No. 19.

While there is a lot of season left to be played, it isn’t wrong to start thinking about postseason positioning.

I know what you are thinking – Playoffs? The last thing we should do is get too far ahead of ourselves!

You’re right, but it isn’t presumptive to look at the schedule and think about the path forward. If anything, I agree that no one should jump to conclusions about the future. That is why the rest of January is so important.

Clemson’s schedule for the rest of the month is key to determining where they will fit into the ACC Tournament, which is March 7-11 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

It isn’t key because the Tigers will be facing the teams trying to overtake them in the standings. It’s the opposite.

• 1/17 at Wake Forest
• 1/21 Virginia Tech
• 1/24 Georgia Tech
• 1/28 at Florida State
• 1/31 at Boston College

Clemson’s next five opponents all rank outside the Top 50 of the NET rankings.

In contrast, the Tigers’ February schedule includes four opponents currently in the Top 50 of the NET rankings: Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Virginia.

These last couple of weeks aren’t important because the Tigers face their toughest opponents. They are important because these are the games the Tigers need to win to position themselves as best as they can for the ACC tournament.

We all know conference losses are coming. It isn’t easy for any team to traverse the ACC unscathed. For perspective, last year’s UNC squad, which advanced to the NCAA title game, had five losses in conference play.

Clemson Men’s Basketball must keep focus during the next two weeks

This is a time when the Tigers might feel they can relax a bit after a big victory over traditional blue-blood Duke. They also might look ahead to the higher-ranked opponents on the schedule next month. Those are both things that can lead to unexpected losses.

Brad Brownell has his work cut out for him to keep his team focused. Fortunately, he has veterans like Hunter Tyson and PJ Hall to help keep the squad composed.

These next five games are all winnable. The Tigers have a good chance to get to 12-0 before they take on Miami on February 4th. They have what it takes on the court. Their biggest challenge will be keeping their minds right for the next two and a half weeks.