Clemson Tigers Basketball Closing in on Key Metrics to be Title Contender

The Clemson Tigers just recently had one of the best stretches of ACC play in quite some time for the program.

After perhaps overlooking the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets last week, the Tigers came into a marquee matchup against the Duke Blue Devils ready to go.

The Blue Devils were undefeated in the ACC coming into the game, but Clemson was able to knock off one of the best teams in the country at home. This was a massive victory to help secure the Tigers a spot in the dance in about a month, with Quad 1 wins being hard to come by in the conference this year.

In addition to beating Duke, they then were able to avoid a let-down at home against the North Carolina Tar Heels. On short rest, the Tigers kept up their winning ways and have been dubbed ‘Blue Blood Killers’ thanks to the victories against the Blue Devils, Tar Heels, and the Kentucky Wildcats earlier in the season.

With the program now being in the AP Top 25, the next thing to focus on will be the ACC Tournament and March Madness.

The Tigers had an excellent run in March last year, reaching the Elite Eight, and they might be shaping up as a team that can contend once again.

Currently, Clemson ranks 26th overall in KenPom net rating efficiency, 19th on offense, and 38th on defense. These metrics are important when it comes to crowning a national champion at the beginning of April.

Since 2001, 96 percent of national champions have had an offense ranked in the Top-21 and 91 percent of champions have had a defense ranked in the Top-31 before the start of the tournament.

While these numbers aren’t at 100 percent, they are close to it with a large sample size to show what type of team is needed on both ends of the court to win it all.

With the Tigers currently being ranked 19th on offense, they meet one of those two criteria. Furthermore, they aren’t far off on the defensive end, being ranked 38th.

There is still a lot of basketball to be played for Clemson the rest of the way and improving on the defensive end should become a priority for the rest of the campaign.

Even if the Tigers do meet both criteria, it doesn’t guarantee that they will win the title. Currently, nine teams in the country meet those metrics. However, with some of those teams being considered the best in the country, a slightly improved defense could make Clemson a true title contender.