Clemson Accepts NIT Bid, STS’s Annual March Madness Pool Opens

Despite being billed as a de facto play-in game, both participants of the ACC Tournament’s second round game between Clemson and NC State missed the cut for the NCAA tournament. In fact, it wasn’t even particularly close as both teams head to the NIT as #2 seeds.

The Tigers are in the Indiana Region. Should both teams win their first two games, the Tigers will travel to Indiana to face the Hoosiers. The #2 seeded Tigers first must get by Wright State. That game will be at 7pm on Tuesday in Littlejohn Coliseum. With a win, the Tigers will host the winner of #3 Furman vs. #6 Wichita State.

KenPom ranks the Tigers as the top team in the region and in fact in the entire NIT, however they’ve struggled to close out tight games with wins making it difficult to pick the Tigers with confidence. Knowing where the heads of such a senior-laden team is anybody’s guess. Hopefully they seize this opportunity to end their college careers with a win in Madison Square Garden rather than an NIT loss.

Indiana Region

No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 8 St. Francis (Pa.); Wednesday, 7 p.m.

No. 4 Providence vs. No. 5 Arkansas; Wednesday, 9 p.m.

No. 3 Furman vs. No. 6 Wichita State; Wednesday, 7 p.m

No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 7 Wright State; Tuesday, 7 p.m.

The other #1 seeds are UNCG, Alabama, and TCU. The full bracket can be viewed here. Tickets to the Wright State game in Clemson can be purchased directly from Clemson here.

UPDATE:

Although originally announced as a Wednesday game, Clemson Athletics sent an email stating that the NCAA moved Clemson’s game to Tuesday at 7pm. The article above has been updated to reflect this change.

Although Clemson won’t be in the marquee event, STS will still host our free NCAA tournament pool. We utilize a scoring system that doesn’t over-weight getting the championship teams and winner correct. The scoring will be as follows:

• Round of 64: 2 points
• Round of 32: 4 points
• Sweet 16: 7 points
• Elite 8: 11 points
• Final Four: 16 points
• Championship: 21 points

Follow the link here to play.