We all know that the national media loves the Duke Blue Devils. However, it is becoming clear that the same feeling doesn't extend to the Clemson basketball team.
While the Tigers are just a half-game behind the 9-0 Blue Devils in the ACC standings at 9-1, many around the nation are overlooking head coach Brad Brownell and his team. That apparently includes national college basketball reporter Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports and other media outlets.
Saturday, after Duke went on the road and won a tough game at Wake Forest, 63-56, it was only natural for Rothstein and the rest of the national college basketball media to continue to fawn over the No. 2 Blue Devils.
However, Rothstein took it a step further by predicting that Duke will run the table in the ACC. What got Clemson fans so upset, though, was that Rothstein completely overlooked Duke's February 8th trip to Clemson when talking about why Duke would not lose for the rest of the regular season.
"Duke just won arguably the toughest remaining ACC game on its regular season schedule," Rothstein said in a post on X.
Duke just won arguably the toughest remaining ACC game on its regular season schedule.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) January 26, 2025
Absolutely NOTHING standing in the way of the Blue Devils being the No. 1 seed in the East on Selection Sunday.
That means Raleigh and then Newark in the NCAA Tournament. https://t.co/TB6fx2Phj3
That is an absurd notion. There is no way to argue that the game at Clemson won't be Duke's toughest ACC test of the season.
Wake is now only 7-2 in league play, 1.5 games behind the Tigers. What's more, Clemson currently sits at No. 30 in the NCAA NET Rankings while Wake is all the way down at No. 71.
Rothstein also seems to be forgetting that another top-5 team has already taken a tumble when playing at Littlejohn Coliseum this year. Back on December 3, the Tigers took down No. 4 Kentucky out of the mighty SEC 70-66.
Thus, it isn't a stretch to think that Duke could find their upcoming trip to Clemson hard to deal with. Sure, playing at Wake is tough for the Blue Devils given that it is a regional rivalry but Wake is not the caliber of team that Clemson is. After all, when the two teams met earlier this year, the Tigers prevailed 73-62.
So Rothstein might not be quite the basketball connoisseur that he professes to be on social media. That's because any reasonable observer can see that the Tigers are the biggest obstacle standing in between Duke and a perfect ACC season.