Duke game could add to growing Clemson program perception |
Grayson Mann
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- Friday, February 07 2025
One of basketball’s most underrated sounds is the noise shoes make as they brush against the court.
On a December night in Littlejohn, the most dominant audio in the building was the roaring of the fans rushing the court as Clemson upset Kentucky. Fresh off a season where the Tigers reached the Elite Eight for the first time in 40 years, an early season win over a blue-blood program was a massive step forward for the perception of Brad Brownell’s program. The win over the Wildcats was an example that the madness of March wasn’t a simple flash in the pan but a sign of things to come. More or less, that consistency has stuck. Despite losing Georgia Tech in triple overtime, the Tigers are 18-5 (10-2 ACC) and have a shot at securing one of the coveted double-byes in the ACC Tournament, which this group desperately needs. Clemson’s NCAA Tournament chances didn’t take any drastic hit with the loss to the Yellow Jackets, but an opportunity to remind the country how this program has grown is slowly approaching. A date with Duke tips off Saturday at 6:30, with even more national eyes on the Tigers thanks to Luka Doncic making his Lakers debut right before the ACC clash. The race for first place may look more challenging with Clemson losing a step after the loss to Georgia Tech, but a win over the No. 2 team in the country will go a long way in clinching a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Clemson’s work has garnered a top 35 rating in the NET, and ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has the Tigers as an eight-seed. Brownell's group would have to suffer a monumental collapse to miss the tournament, but Saturday isn’t really about the Big Dance. The tango with Cooper Flagg and Duke’s cast of characters goes above and beyond as the more challenging game remaining on the schedule. Still, the Tigers have fared well against the Blue Devils in Littlejohn, winning four of their last six matchups on their home floor. As the dust settled on the loss to the Yellow Jackets, Brownell wasn’t entirely ready to talk about Duke, but the matchup had to be already occupying space in his mind. He knows Saturday isn’t make or break for his group’s postseason destiny, but the growing positive perception about Clemson basketball would receive a significant boost. The last time the Blue Devils took to the home floor of Littlejohn, the fans rushed the court as the Tigers reached a 7-0 mark in ACC play. That version of Clemson hoops didn’t exactly reach the desired heights it hoped for, leaving that win to succumb to the afterthoughts of many. A win over this version of Duke would likely mean an invite to the Big Dance is on the way, with a loss opening the door for questions to creep in about what this group can achieve. Whenever a program of the Blue Devils’ caliber comes to town, all eyes are set on the 40 minutes on the floor. As the noise of the shoes begins to graze against the hardwood, the decibels Clemson can reach in 2025 may be magnified, with one of the most significant results in regular-season memory.
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