Following a 27-6 finish to the season, Clemson basketball earned its second straight NCAA Tournament trip. It also earned a date with 12-seed McNeese in the first round of the tourney, which, on paper, looks like an upset possibility, but when you know what's currently happening within the program, you may think differently.
McNeese head coach Will Wade agreed on Wednesday night to become the next head coach at NC State, effectively leaving the Cowboys before the NCAA Tourament.
Talk about a distraction.
With Clemson seemingly gaining momentum at the end of the year and McNeese losing a ton with the departure of its star coach, this feels like a game Brad Brownell should win.
Now let's get bold.
1. Chase Hunter drops 20-plus
In last year's NCAA Tournament, Chase Hunter played the role of hero multiple times during Clemson's run to the Elite Eight, scoring in double figures twice and 18-plus in three out of four games. That's what you call a clutch performer in the biggest moments.
Hunter is all about being the hero and he loves the spotlight so I fully expect him to return to his 2024 NCAA Tournament self, scoring 20-plus points for the second time in three games.
Don't let Chase get hot.
2. Clemson races out to a big lead
McNeese is distracted right now, and rightfully so. These players just had their earth shattered this week when head coach Will Wade announced to them that he'd be taking the NC State job.
Now, it's time for the veteran leaders of this team to pick up the pieces. But there's no doubt that they're going to either come out red-hot and prove the nation wrong or they'll come out sluggish and look like they don't want to be there. My pick is the latter.
Clemson will race out to a 10-point lead within the first eight minutes.
3. Clemson wins by double-digits
The spread heading into this game is at 7.5 points in favor of Clemson and while that feels like a lot of points for a 5-12 matchup, the Cowboys are going through something with their head coach leaving.
Although the spread opened at 7.5 and hasn't moved, it does feel like this is heavily based on the McNeese distraction because we even see other No. 5 seeds being tabbed as underdogs by Vegas against their 12-seed counterparts. Not here. Not on Thursday.
Clemson is going to come out swinging, take a double-digit lead early and never truly looking back, going up by as many as 18 before eventually winning by 11.
The Tigers will play the winner of High Point vs. Purdue on Saturday.