Heartbreaking Clemson loss likely kills hopes of ACC regular-season title

Tuesday night, the Clemson basketball team suffered the most unexpected loss of the season. In the process, the Tigers almost certainly lost any chance of winning the ACC regular-season title.

In an 89-86 3-OT defeat to a Georgia Tech team that entered the game at just 10-12 overall and 4-7 in ACC contests, Clemson was outplayed on its home court. The Tigers gave up 24 offensive rebounds and lost the overall rebounding battle by 10.

Throughout the game, Clemson looked slow, sluggish, and unfocused. They shot only 36.4% from the floor and allowed the Yellowjackets to shoot 42.2%.

Were the Tigers simply off the game? Were they overlooking Georgia Tech with No. 2 Duke coming to town on Saturday? Or does the credit go to a Yellowjacket team that has suddenly become hot by beating Louisville and Clemson in its last two games? Whatever the reason, this was the type of outcome Clemson could not afford.

Now, the Tigers have lost control of the ACC regular-season race. A win on Tuesday would have sent Clemson into Saturday night with an opportunity to draw even with the Blue Devils in the league race.

Now, though, Clemson is two games back of Duke (assuming that Duke beats an awful Syracuse team on the road Wednesday night). That means that even a win on Saturday would not put the Tigers in the driver’s seat in the ACC.

Unfortunately, Clemson now needs help to catch Duke. Not only do the Tigers need to hand the Blue Devils an ACC loss Saturday night, but they will need someone else to take down Duke in the regular season. Of course, Clemson would also have to run the table in that scenario and even then, they would just tie Duke for the league crown if both teams finish with two ACC losses.

Unfortunately, Duke has a very easy ACC schedule after playing at Littlejohn Coliseum. They won’t play a ranked ACC team the rest of the season and of the seven conference games they will play after coming to Clemson, four of the opponents have losing conference records. What’s more, the ESPN.com Matchup Predictor gives Duke at least a 75% chance of winning every one of their conference games after Saturday.

What makes Duke’s road to the ACC title so seemingly smooth is that their road games after Saturday are against awful teams. After playing at Clemson, the Blue Devils will travel to Virginia (which is 4-8 in ACC play), Miami (which is 1-10 in the ACC), and North Carolina (which is just 6-5 in the ACC).

While the North Carolina game is a rivalry, don’t expect the Tar Heels to help Clemson out much. When the Heels and Devils played at Duke last Saturday, the UNC lost by 17 points and was never in the game after trailing by as many as 32 points.

Meanwhile, Clemson still has another tough road test to navigate before the ACC Tournament. While five of the last seven opponents on the Tigers’ schedule after the Duke game have losing records in the conference, the Tigers do have to go to Dallas, Texas to face a sneaky-good SMU team that is 17-5 overall and 8-3 in the ACC. That could be a potential stumbling block for Brad Brownell’s team.

To be fair, even if Clemson had beaten Georgia Tech on Tuesday, the path to an ACC title was going to be narrow. That’s just the reality of competing with an elite team like Duke.

However, by dropping a home game to a Yellowjacket team that they had previously beaten by 11 points on the road, the Tigers basically assured themselves that they will not be able to track down the Blue Devils. That takes some of the heat out of Saturday’s game at Littlejohn for sure.

Of course, the Tigers can still make a statement and beef up their NCAA Tournament resume by taking down Duke. If they do, though, they still aren’t likely to win the ACC regular-season title thanks to Tuesday’s massive letdown.