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Clemson fans, national observers marvel at Tigers' upset of No. 2 Duke

Following Clemson's defeat of No. 2 Duke on Saturday night, people across the nation took to social media to weigh in on the Tigers' massive accomplishment.
ByMatthew Conner|
Duke v Clemson
Duke v Clemson | Lance King/GettyImages

All season, the Clemson basketball team has flown under the radar. Despite entering Saturday with an overall record of 18-5 and a 10-2 record in ACC play, the Tigers were not really part of the national discussion.

In fact, in recent weeks head coach Brad Brownell and his team couldn't seem to crack the A.P. top 25 despite a six-game winning streak. What's more, once that streak was snapped in a 3-OT home loss to Georgia Tech on Tuesday night, the Tigers were close to becoming an afterthought to just about everyone outside of the state of South Carolina.

But for the second time this year, Clemson forced its way back into the conversation by toppling a top-5 team. Of course, back in early December, the Tigers took out then-No. 4 Kentucky 70-66 in Clemson to open eyes across the country.

Following that win (and a victory in their next game, a road tilt at Miami), the Tigers jumped up to No. 16 in the rankings. However, they didn't have staying power as they would fall to Memphis and South Carolina (with both losses coming in overtime) in the first two games after earning their first national ranking of the season.

Now, it is fair to believe that the Tigers will jump back into the polls following their fantastic win over Duke, a game that was broadcast in primetime on ESPN no less. And if that happens, they are likely to have more staying power.

While nothing can be taken for granted (as we learned against Georgia Tech), the Tigers have a winnable stretch of games coming up to close out the regular season. Starting with Monday's home game against North Carolina, the Tigers have seven regular-season games left and none come against ranked teams.

What's more, of those seven opponents, only North Carolina and SMU have winning ACC records. Thus, there is a great opportunity for the Tigers to enter the postseason on a hot streak.

That opportunity was set up by taking down No. 2 Duke on Saturday night in the regular season's biggest game. And after the win, people around the nation were talking about the eye-opening victory. Here are some of the best social media posts about Clemson's upset of the Blue Devils.

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