NCAA ranks Clemson as a Top 16 seed

Tigers considered one of the best by the selection committee

By: Will Vandervort | February 11, 2018 12:40 pm ET Follow @steelerwill

Like the College Football Playoff Committee did during the football season, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee released its top 16 teams as they stand right now on Sunday, giving the public a glimpse of where teams stand, coaches a barometer of their seeding as well as a dry run for the men’s selection committee for next month’s real selection day.

Clemson came in ranked as the top No. 3 seed and No. 9 overall by the NCAA Selection committee and are projected to play in the Midwest Region in next month’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Tigers have never been higher than a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament in the program’s history.

The Midwest Region semifinals and finals will be held in Omaha, Neb.

A year ago, the NCAA Selection Committee revealed its top 16 seeds in mid-February. A month later, 15 of the 16 teams mentioned in February were still in the top 16 when the brackets were revealed for the actual NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers have won four straight games and are 20-4 overall and 9-3 in the ACC. They currently stand two games back of first-place Virginia in the ACC standings and a game and a half head of Duke and North Carolina.

Clemson beat Pitt on Thursday night to reach 20 wins for the third fastest time in school history and the second fastest in terms of the date on the calendar. The 20 wins in 24 games ranks as the third best start in school history behind the 1986-’87 and 2008-’09 teams.

The Tigers enter Sunday’s action ranked No. 4 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings and are the only ACC team with a perfect record at home. They are 13-0 this year at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The selection committee says it has made one change to its selection process this year, it will value all wins away from home the same. Clemson has seven wins away from Littlejohn already this season. Two of those wins are at No. 14 overall seed Ohio State and in the Orange Bowl Classic against Florida.

The Tigers also have a home win against No. 12 overall seed North Carolina. Clemson will host No. 7 overall seed Duke next Sunday.

KenPom.com has Clemson ranked No. 15 in its college basketball ratings system, a formula the selection committee will use for the first time this year.

The Tigers had the weekend off and will get back on the court this coming Wednesday when they travel to Tallahassee to take on the Florida State Seminoles. Tipoff is schedule for 7 p.m.

The NCAA’s top 16 seeds

1 Virginia ( No. 1 overall seed)

1 Villanova (No. 2)

1 Xavier (No. 3)

1 Purdue (No. 4)

2 Auburn (No. 5)

2 Kansas (No. 6)

2 Duke (No. 7)

2 Cincinnati (No. 8)

3 Clemson (No. 9)

3 Texas Tech (No. 10)

3 Michigan State (No. 11)