It's only June, but nothing stops ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi from releasing his way-too-early 2026 NCAA Tournament projections and you know college basketball fans everywhere still eat that up.
I full expect some "it's only June so who cares" comments stemming from this post, but I truly believe that these kinds of projections get fans excited no matter what. And that includes Clemson fans who don't exactly know how to feel after going 27-7 and losing to McNeese in the first round in the same season they beat a superstar Duke squad with three top-10 NBA Draft picks.
Oh, and Clemson lost essentially its entire roster including Chase Hunter, Viktor Lakhin, Chauncey Wiggins, Ian Schieffelin, and Jaeden Zackery.
The only solid contributor returning from last year's squad is Dillon Hunter.
Still, Brad Brownell did a solid job with the team and he has the Tigers projected to flirt with the NCAA Tournament again and make a push for a second Sweet 16 in three years.
Does Lunardi agree in his early NCAA Tournament projections that he updated earlier this week?
While he does believe that Clemson will flirt with the tournament, he projects the Tigers as one of the first four teams to miss the field along with Marquette, Indiana, and Washington. To me, this is a little disrespectful given the fact that Brownell landed a solid 2025 recruiting class which includes a slew of talented transfers. Missing the NCAA Tournament with all this talent would be a disaster.
Here's to hoping this team proves Lunardi wrong.