Though most of the Clemson fan base is focused on the football team's upcoming College Football Playoff tilt with Texas next weekend, there is another team on campus that deserves the full support of the locals. Brad Brownell and his Tiger basketball team are off to a fantastic start to the season and on Saturday, they face a huge test at home against Memphis. But with the tip being at 11 a.m. Eastern, there is a bit of concern over what type of crowd will show up at Littlejohn Coliseum for this critical non-conference matchup.
This is certainly an unusually early start time for the Tigers and Brownell said earlier this week, it will present some new challenges for his team.
“I don’t know that I have played at 11 a.m. I’ve played at noon, but 11 is early,” he said. “Pregame is at eight and we will probably have a really short meeting and that is about all you’ll do. You get most of your work in on Thursday and Friday. Obviously, you have to be cognizant of your guys and see how they feel right away.”
Of course, no one wants to get out of bed early on a Saturday but that's what Brownell hopes fans will do to support his team. What's more, with the game coming the day after finals at Clemson wrap up, there is a question as to how many students will hang around to support the basketball team. And if the students aren't there in full force, the atmosphere in the arena could be a bit sleepy.
“You hope there is energy in the building,” Brownell said. “The fan base can really help us. I know when we played in Memphis last year they had a white-out and it was electric. It was a tough place to play. We need to have a similar atmosphere here to help give our guys juice and energy. So I am optimistic that we will turn out for a basketball brunch in Littlejohn.”
A season ago, Memphis squeaked out a 79-77 win over Clemson in Memphis. That game saw the home crowd help propel its school to a nice win and Brownell hopes Clemson fans can return the favor.
Though Memphis is no longer a ranked team, they still sit at No. 46 in the NCAA NET Rankings meaning this is an opportunity for a Quad-1 win for Clemson by virtue of Memphis being in the top 50 of the NET. And given the general mediocrity of the ACC this year, Quad-1 opportunities won't be plentiful for Clemson in conference play.
Thus, the orange Tigers must capitalize on this home game by taking down the blue Tigers to enhance what is already shaping up to be a strong NCAA Tournament resume. What's more, Brownell and his team deserve as much support from the Clemson faithful as Dabo Swinney and his football program receive.
Coming off of an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament this spring, the Tigers are now ranked 16th in the nation. And the last time they played at home, they took down then-No. 4 Kentucky in a game that showed the nation that Clemson basketball is once again to be considered a power not only in the ACC but on the national scene. Why wouldn't the Clemson faithful give the basketball team their full support?
So Clemson fans, get up early and get to Littlejohn Saturday morning to support one of the best basketball teams in the country. No, the game doesn't have the magnitude of a College Football Playoff game but it is one of the better home basketball games of the year and a win could position Clemson to play games of massive significance in March.