While Clemson basketball was one of four teams to earn a double-bye in the ACC Tournament this week, the Tigers were still busy and the headlines didn't stop.
After breaking every single-season program record, it seemed, with the Senior Day win over Virginia Tech, Brad Brownell was hoping for a stress-free week leading up to Clemson's first game of the ACC Tournament on Thursday night. Well, he didn't quite get that.
In fact, he was bombarded with Indiana head coaching vacancy rumors as his name has popped up in the media as a potential candidate to replace Mike Woodson for next season. Though he didn't quite shoot the rumors down or shut the door to the possibility of leaving for Bloomington, he did say he was committed to Clemson and he's focused on this program and the upcoming games.
Speaking of which, Brownell wouldn't know his first opponent until Wednesday night as the second round was concluding. The last game of the night would decide Clemson's matchup on Thursday.
And who is it? The Tigers will get SMU on Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Let March officially begin 🏆
— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) March 9, 2025
The bracket for the 2025 T. Rowe Price ACC Men's Basketball Tournament is set!
🔗 https://t.co/Gre8bGevHU
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The Mustangs are having a nice season but they are squarely on the bubble with an outside shot of making the NCAA Tournament. It would take likely a trip to the ACC title game to get them in so they're going to give Clemson their best shot.
If the Tigers are able to take care of business on Thursday night, they would play again on Friday night between the winner of Louisville vs. Stanford. A title game appearance (against Duke, more than likely) would be Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Clemson hasn't won a conference tournament since 1939. It's time to change that.