Tournament time for Tigers: Where Clemson is headed for 2025 March Madness
Clemson basketball’s NCAA Tournament path is set.
The Tigers are a No. 5 seed and will play No. 12 McNeese State in a first-round game on Thursday in Providence, Rhode Island at Amica Mutal Pavilion.
The full March Madness bracket was announced later Sunday.
The winner of the Clemson-McNeese game will play No. 4 Purdue or No. 13 High Point in a second-round game on Saturday. Clemson is in the Midwest Regional, which means it would play games in Indianapolis if it were to advance.
The No. 1 seed in Clemson’s region is Houston. The Tigers opened as an early 7.5-point betting favorite against McNeese, according to FanDuel.
“It’s a special group and I certainly want to see special things happen to them,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said Sunday from Littlejohn Coliseum, where the Tigers held a team watch party. “Anxious to get started.”
Breaking down Clemson’s opening NCAA game
The Tigers finished the regular season 27-6, which sets a program record for single-season wins. Clemson also won a school-record 18 ACC games and advanced to the second round of the conference tournament before losing to Louisville.
Clemson is making consecutive tournament appearances for first time ever under Brownell and its fifth overall appearance under Brownell in 15 seasons.
Last year, the Tigers were a No. 6 seed in the tournament. But they won three straight games as underdogs and advanced to their first Elite Eight in 44 years and only the second in program history before losing to Alabama.
This is Clemson’s 15th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, all since 1980. The Tigers were the No. 18 overall seed in the field, per the NCAA selection committee, and the second highest ranked No. 5 seed behind Michigan (No. 17).
The Tigers entered the weekend on the No. 4/5 seed line and appeared to have a shot at a top 4 seed, which would’ve been their highest since 1996-97. But Friday’s loss to Louisville bumped Clemson down a line. (Louisville wound up as a No. 8 seed.)
Chief among Clemson’s concerns this week heading into Providence: Finding a way to improve its 3-point shooting and finding out the right mix of players to replace top reserve Dillon Hunter, who will miss the NCAA Tournament with a broken hand.
The Tigers shot 9-37 on 3-pointers (.243) in two ACC Tournament games after shooting .378 as a team in the regular season. And they’ve got a gap to fill with Hunter, a junior guard who’d worked his way into the starting lineup, on the shelf.
“We get doubted a lot, but I think this team, this group knows how good we are and that we can win some big games,” first team All-ACC senior guard Chase Hunter said.
Case in point: Within minutes of Clemson’s bracket placement, CBS analyst Seth Davis said he was picking McNeese to upset the Tigers (which drew some eye rolls and a “thumbs down” from Clemson center Viktor Lakhin at the watch party).
McNeese (27-6) made the tournament as the Southland Conference automatic bid. The Cowboys are coached by Will Wade, a 2005 Clemson graduate who spent time on Larry Shyatt and Oliver Purnell’s Tigers staffs from 2002-07.
Wade was a student manager, graduate assistant and director of basketball operations for Clemson before moving onto a prominent head coaching career that has also included stops at Chattanooga, VCU and LSU.
Wade was fired at LSU after recruiting violations in 2022. He’s now led McNeese to back-to-back tournaments and is reportedly a top candidate for the NC State job.
“Everywhere he’s been, he’s been very successful,” Brownell said of Wade, adding that McNeese has “a bunch of good, high-major transfers and good players that are used to winning. ... They’ll come in feeling good about themselves as well.”
How to watch Clemson in NCAA Tournament
- Who: No. 5 Clemson (27-6) vs. No. 12 McNeese State (27-6)
- When: 3:15 p.m. Thursday
- Where: Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, RI
- TV: truTV
- Betting line: Clemson by 7.5 points
- Next up: Winner plays either No. 4 Purdue or No. 13 High Point in a second-round game on Saturday, March 22 (tip time and TV channel TBA)
This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 6:24 PM.
