In college basketball, the “eye test” matters, but it is the math that will determine your seed in March. For the Clemson Tigers, the numbers have been moving in the wrong direction. Clemson (20-8, 10-5 ACC) have hit a wall after just a blistering 10-1 opening to ACC play, with four consecutive losses and falling out of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. While these losses alone are painful, their impact on the Tigers’ analytical profile (those figures being the NET rankings and KenPom ratings) can have huge seeding implications.
After losing against Wake Forest and Florida State, Clemson slid seven spots in the NET rankings to No. 38. The slide is felt even more sharply in the KenPom ratings, where the Tigers tumbled to No. 40—a 12-spot decrease from where they were two weeks ago. The main reason lies in a missing offense. In a 70-65 loss to Florida State on Saturday, Clemson shot only 38% from the field and missed its final six shots in the game.
“Clemson has gotten ice-cold at the wrong time,” said ESPN’s Neil Paine. “The Tigers were an ACC ‘lock’ since Bubble Watch first got going on Feb. 3… they are now being downgraded accordingly, trending lower in the pecking order of the conference.”…