Clemson basketball looks somewhat vulnerable on the road.
After an 85-77 loss at Wake Forest on Wednesday night, Brad Brownell’s club has now lost three straight games, a jaw-dropping turn for a team that had been 20-4 just 10 days ago. The defeat in Winston-Salem came after road fumbles at Duke and a home loss against Virginia Tech, creating the Tigers' longest-running losing streak in the 2025-26 season.
The "eye test” suggests a team in search of its identity, but the NCAA’s analytical computers are starting to respond. Clemson (20-7, 10-4 ACC) dropped two spots to No. 33 in the latest NET Rankings on Thursday. And the loss to the Demon Deacons (NET No. 58) counts as a “Quadrant 1” setback for the Tigers, so they won’t necessarily “break” a tournament resume, but the cumulative weight of the streak is dragging them from the win edge to a perilous seed line.
Current bracket predictions have Clemson down from a comfortable No. 6 seed early this month to a projected No. 8 or No. 9 seed, which generally leads to a second-round date with a No. 1 seed.
Clemson’s Current Resume:
Quad 1: 4-5.
Quad 2: 6-2.
Quad 3: 5-0.
Quad 4: 5-0.
Its defense, which remains 15th nationally, undergirds the Tigers’ steadfastness on the rankings. The offense, however, is falling flat over this stretch. Against Wake Forest, the Tigers allowed 85 points — their most offense in regulation since early December. Jake Wahlin added a little light to the gloom with a season-high 17 points, but that was insufficient to overcome a Wake Forest team that shot efficiently and exploited Clemson’s late game switches.
The margin for error is now just tiny, however, if Clemson is to place a top-half seed in the Big Dance. The path doesn’t get any easier, but it is going back home. The Tigers head back to Littlejohn Coliseum Saturday (12 p.m., The CW) to host a hot running Florida State team.
The Seminoles (NET No. 84) have picked up five of their last six and will serve as a vital Quad 2 opportunity for Clemson to stem the bleeding prior to a consequential finale with North Carolina and Louisville looming in the distance.