With only a week and a half left in the month of February, college basketball fans are starting to dial in for the return of March Madness. Of course, Clemson basketball fans are dreaming of another deep run in the NCAA Tournament after last year's Elite Eight appearance.
This year, the Tigers appear to be surging at just the right time. They have won nine of their last ten games and are one of the hottest teams in the country.
Currently, the Tigers are No. 25 in the latest NCAA NET Rankings. Meanwhile, in the KenPom.com rankings, they check in at No. 24.
That leaves many to hope that head coach Brad Brownell and his team will earn a respectable seeding in the NCAA Tournament. So let's look at the latest "Bracketology" projections to see where the so-called "experts" think the Tigers may find themselves on Selection Sunday.
Clemson as a No. 6 seed
ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi puts the Tigers as a No. 6 seed. He has them in the West Region taking on No. 11 seed Vanderbilt out of the SEC in round one. In his bracket, that game would be played in Cleveland, Ohio.
In Lunardi's latest bracket, the Tigers would then face the winner of Purdue and Jacksonville State in the second round. Also in the West Region, Lunardi has No. 1 seed Florida and No. 2 seed Texas A&M, two SEC teams that would stand in the way of a Final Four run for Clemson.
CBSSports.com also puts Clemson as a No. 6 seed in their "bracketology" projection. They have the Tigers in the East Region taking on either BYU or Texas, two No. 11 seeds that would meet in one of the "First Four" games. Interestingly, in that projection, Clemson is in the same region as No. 1 seed Duke, an ACC rival that the Tigers have already beaten once this year.
Clemson as a No. 7 seed
The folks at USA Today Sports put the Tigers as a No. 7 seed. Their projection has Clemson in the South Region taking on No. 10 seed Ohio State out of the Big Ten in a round-one game in Wichita, Kansas. Should the Tigers advance, they would likely meet No. 2 seed Texas A&M for a spot in the Sweet 16. In that projection, the No. 1 seed in the South Region is Auburn, which is currently the top-ranked team in the national polls.
Another site that puts Clemson on the No. 7 seed line is FOX Sports. They also have the Tigers facing Vanderbilt in the West Region but in this projection, the Commodores are a No. 10 seed. Should the Tigers win that game, they would likely face No. 2 seed Iowa State in the second round. Florida is the No. 1 seed in the region according to FOX Sports.
Clemson being hurt by weak ACC
For some Clemson fans, these seedings might not be what they had envisioned. After all, the Tigers are playing as well as any team in the country right now. What's more, they have wins over two top-5 opponents this year, Kentucky and Duke.
The unfortunate fact for the Tigers is that they are being pulled down by the overall weakness of the ACC. Currently, Clemson has played in just five Quad-1 games going 3-2. That's because 12 of the conference games the Tigers have played in have been against Quad-2 or Quad-3 opponents with seven of those being Quad-3 games.
Compare that to Auburn in the SEC which is 14-2 in Quad-1 games and just 5-0 in Quad-2 and Quad-3 games and it is easy to see why the Auburn Tigers are the No. 1 overall seed and the Clemson Tigers are a No. 6 or 7 seed. If Clemson wants to jump up to a No. 4 seed and be one of the top 16 national seeds, then an ACC Tournament championship is likely going to be required.
The good news, though, is that the Tigers are solidly in the field. That's more than most ACC teams can say at this point of the season.