Where is Clemson basketball going in NCAA Tournament? Here’s the latest bracketology
Clemson’s NCAA Tournament destinations are coming into focus.
After a record-setting regular season, the Tigers men’s basketball team (26-5, 18-2 ACC) is generally regarded as a top 4 or 5 seed, according to most projections.
As for where Clemson will play, and who? That’s very up in the air.
Clemson is right on the No. 4/No. 5 seed line and has an average seeding of 4.55 across 88 projections tracked by the website bracketmatrix.com. The Tigers were a No. 6 seed last year and haven’t been a top 4 seed since the 1996-97 season (No. 4).
Here’s the latest on Clemson’s tournament projections as of Thursday morning, ahead of the Tigers’ ACC Tournament quarterfinal game vs. SMU in Charlotte.
Clemson NCAA Tournament projections
- ESPN: No. 4 Clemson vs. No. 13 Akron in Seattle
- CBS Sports: No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 McNeese St. in Seattle
- Washington Post: No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 Liberty in Seattle
- The Athletic: No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 Yale in Providence, RI
- USA TODAY: No. 4 Clemson vs. No. 13 High Point in Seattle
- Field of 68: No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 Xavier or Ohio St.*
- Bleacher Report: No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 Baylor/Indiana*
- FOX Sports: No. 4 Clemson vs. No. 13 Akron*
*no opening weekend game site included in projection
Who will Clemson play in second round?
The Tigers will almost certainly be favored in their first-round game. If Clemson wins its opening game, bracketologists offer these possible round of 32 opponents:
- ESPN: No. 5 Oregon or No. 12 UC San Diego
- CBS Sports: No. 4 Oregon or No. 13 Akron
- Washington Post: No. 4 Purdue or No. 13 Lipscomb
- The Athletic: No. 4 Purdue or No. 13 Liberty
- USA TODAY: No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 12 Xavier/Indiana
- Field of 68: No. 4 Purdue or No. 13 High Point
- Bleacher Report: No. 4 Purdue or No. 13 High Point
- FOX Sports: No. 5 Michigan or No. 12 McNeese St
Where will Clemson play?
Four of five bracket projections that include locations have Clemson playing its opening NCAA Tournament game at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
Another has the Tigers going to Providence, Rhode Island.
The six other men’s first/second-round game sites are: Denver; Milwaukee; Cleveland; Raleigh, North Carolina; Lexington, Kentucky; and Wichita, Kansas.
For potential second weekend games, Clemson was predicted to land in the South Regional (Atlanta) four times in the eight projections above, the East Regional (Newark, New Jersey) twice and the Midwest Regional (Indianapolis) twice.
The Tigers had no predictions to land in the West Regional (San Francisco).
The 2025 Final Four is April 5-7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Next Clemson basketball game
- Who: No. 3 seed Clemson (26-5) vs. No. 6 seed SMU (23-9)
- What: 2025 ACC Tournament quarterfinal game
- Where: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC
- Next up: Winner plays No. 2 Louisville or No. 7 Stanford in a Friday semifinal
- TV: ESPN2
- Spread: Clemson by 6.5 points
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 7:30 AM.
