Clemson sports news roundup: Basketball hits the road, soccer advances, more

Clemson basketball faces first road test of the season

After a 3-0 start to the regular season, the Clemson basketball team is set to hit the road this weekend for the first time. Saturday, the Tigers are set to face the 2-1 Boise State Broncos in Idaho at 1:30 p.m. Eastern. The game can be seen on CBSSports Network.

The ESPN.com matchup predictor has this game as a true tossup with Clemson having a 50.1% chance of prevailing. Thus, it could be the first time this year that head coach Brad Brownell sees his team pushed for 40 minutes.

Thus far, Boise has wins over Oakland and Corban sandwiched around a loss to San Francisco. Many believe the Broncos will be a contender in the Mountain West, which many view as the best mid-major conference in America. In fact, Boise was voted the preseason favorite to win the league.

Therefore, this could be an important game for the Tigers given that it could wind up being a win over a team that wins a good conference and reaches the NCAA Tournament. So keep a close eye on what happens Saturday in Boise because the Broncos should give Clemson a stiff test.

Clemson soccer to play for ACC Tournament title

Thursday night, the Clemson men's soccer team advanced to the ACC Tournament Championship Game. Thanks to a 3-2 win over Cal, the Tigers will play in the conference tournament title game for the fifth time in six seasons.

Scoring goals in the 5th and 23rd minutes, Clemson jumped out to an early advantage. However, by the 62nd minute, the Golden Bears had tied the game with a pair of second-half goals.

Fortunately, Clemson had some magic in store. In the 65th minute, freshman Ransford Gyan put his team ahead with a nifty game-winning goal.

Now, the Tigers will play Wake Forest for the ACC Championship on Sunday at noon in Cary, North Carolina. The game can be seen live on ESPNU.

Speaking of the men's soccer program, several members of the team have earned All-ACC recognition. Senior midfielder Joran Gerbet was named the league’s Midfielder of the Year and a first-team All-ACC selection.

Meanwhile, Gyan was honored as the ACC’s Freshman of the Year. He was also named to the All-ACC second team.

Also on the First Team was Alex Meinhard, who earned his first-career All-ACC mention. Meanwhile, two more freshmen, Lukas Magnason and Wahabu Musah, made the All-Freshman squad.

Clemson volleyball hosts Boston College and Syracuse

This weekend, the Clemson basketball team will host a pair of ACC games. Friday, the Tigers (8-17 overall, 0-14 in ACC play) will take on Boston College (12-14 overall, 5-9 in ACC play) at 7 p.m. and Sunday they will host Syracuse (14-12 overall, 2-12 in ACC play) at Noon.

It has been a rough year for the Tigers. Riding a 14-game losing streak, they will have two shots to get into the win column in ACC play against two teams that have also struggled in conference play.

Clemson ranked best small city in America for sports

This week, WalletHub.com ranked the best sports cities in America. Clemson topped the list of the best small cities.

"When you filter by city size, though, there are a ton of amazing local sports scenes to discover," WalletHub's Chip Lupo said. "For example, Green Bay, WI, is a midsize city with one of the richest football cultures in America, and Clemson, SC, is a small city with high-level, affordable games across multiple sports at the collegiate level.”

A small city was classified by having fewer than 100,000 people.

According to WalletHub, "Clemson, SC, is the best small city for sports fans, particularly for college sports enthusiasts. Clemson University has very strong athletic programs, including its highly successful football team. The Clemson Tigers have won 15 ACC conference championships since 1978, along with three national titles, and they have a large stadium capacity and extremely engaged fans. As a result, Clemson ranks 31st overall among the best football cities, despite not having an NFL team."