Joe Lunardi says Clemson is 'the most difficult call' in years for the selection committee

Clemson hoops has left their fate in the hands of the NCAA Selection Committee. They’ll await Sunday evening with bated breath to hopefully hear their name called as part of the 2023 NCAA Tournament field. But should Tiger fans expect to see their team’s name listed in this year’s bracket? Well, bracketology expert Joe Lunardi thinks it’s on the fence the right now whether Brad Brownell’s group gets in.

Lunardi joined SportsCenter on Saturday morning to discuss a number of bubble teams, including Clemson. He finds the Tigers’ resume troubling for the committee since they do have good wins but also some very bad losses.

“I think Clemson is the most difficult call for the committee in a number of years, to be honest with you,” said Lunardi. “They clearly have enough good wins, they pass the eye-test — if you’re one of those folks — and they’re playing well down the stretch.”

The kicker here is that Clemson’s out-of-conference schedule and results leave a lot to be desired, per Lunardi.

“What they have is the worst non-conference schedule ranking in the history of bubble teams. And if they get an at-large bid they would be breaking the committee’s longstanding precedent in that regard.”

In the non-conference, Clemson lost to pitiful South Carolina and only played two other power conference teams aside from the Gamecocks. Those results: a loss to Iowa and a win over fellow bubble competitor Penn State in double overtime. If Clemson does sneak into the field, it will be because they eked out a home win over the Nittany Lions back in November. Otherwise, their non-conference slate was not pretty.

But, as Lunardi mentioned, Clemson is playing well down the stretch and finished with a good ACC record and several quality wins in conference play. The Tigers are on thin ice, but their resume may be just enough to skate by.