Three months ago, Clemson basketball's impressive 2024-25 season ended abruptly as Will Wade and McNeese pulled off a massive upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Clemson's second-place finish in the ACC was overshadowed by an early exit in the NCAA Tournament despite going 27-7 and beating No. 1 seed Duke during the regular season.
Following the loss, Clemson lost some big names as Ian Schieffelin joined the football team, Chase Hunter, Jaeden Zackery, and Viktor Lakhin entered the NBA Draft, and Chauncey Wiggins (and others) hit the transfer portal. There was a lot of attrition as the only returning player with legit experience is Dillon Hunter.
Brad Brownell had some work to do in the transfer portal, and they landed some stars like Jestin Porter and Nick Davidson to go along with some other key projected starters. The talent is there, and Brownell is a good enough coach to make sure the Tigers contend for the ACC title again after back-to-back successful seasons.
Vegas, however, doesn't agree that Clemson will be competing this season with a new roster.
According to Caesars Sportsbook, the Tigers have the 10th-best odds to win the ACC this coming season behind the likes of NC State, Louisville, Miami, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia, and Notre Dame. I would find it tough to argue Clemson should be ahead of Duke and North Carolina, but the other seven are head-scratchers (I do get Louisville and NC State, however).
A year after one of the most successful regular seasons in program history and after landing one of the best transfer portal classes in the country, Vegas doesn't even see Clemson finishing in the top 10 of the ACC.
The disrespect has returned.