Bracketology: Joe Lunardi says Clemson will face this Big Ten school in NCAA Tournament
Clemson’s 21-point blowout loss to Boston College in Wednesday night’s ACC Tournament opener cost the Tigers any chance at improving their seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers (21-11 overall) came out lifeless and never even cut the lead down to single digits after trailing 40-28 at halftime.
It was a disappointing end to an ACC season that saw many ups and downs for Clemson, which began the year 11-1 and ranked as high as No. 13 at one point, only to finish just one game over .500 in conference play.
While confidence may seem low, the NCAA Tournament is another beast and Clemson will have a chance to redeem itself beginning next week. To that end, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has updated his bracketology projections with who he sees as the complete list of NCAA Tournament teams and where they will land.
In Friday’s update, Lunardi sees Clemson slipping from a No. 6 seed to a No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup against Michigan State in a 7 vs. 10 battle.
The Spartans (19-13 overall) defeated Minnesota in their Big Ten Tournament opener on Thursday and are set to square off against projected No. 1 overall seed Purdue (28-3) Friday. Purdue won the Big Ten’s regular season championship.
Lunardi forecasts the Tigers-Spartans matchup to be in the South Region of the tournament at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center. If that projection holds, it should give Clemson a significant home court advantage.
Michigan State finished tied for sixth in the Big Ten regular season standings They have Quadrant 1 wins over Baylor, Indiana State and Illinois, plus six wins against Quad 2 teams. Tom Izzo’s Spartans are currently 24th in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Clemson is 36th in NET rankings.
In Friday’s updated projections, Lunardi awards the most NCAA Tournament bids to the Big 12 with nine, followed by the SEC with eight. His projected No. 1 seeds are Purdue, Houston, UConn, and North Carolina.
The Tar Heels won the ACC regular season championship and are two wins away from winning the ACC Tournament entering Friday.
