College Basketball Season Delayed 15 Days, Limited Capacity Plan Approved, ACC Schedule Released

Clemson basketball, which abruptly ended just minutes before a planned ACC Tournament game against Florida State, is on target to begin anew on November 25th. Fortunately, college football has been generally successful in proving collegiate sports can be played with appropriate safety protocols, and college basketball is poised to follow suit. South Carolina’s governor has approved Clemson’s reduced capacity plan for Littlejohn Coliseum, which can be summarized as follows:

As part of the plan, Littlejohn Coliseum’s typical seating capacity of 8,758 will be reduced to 1,860 fans for both men’s and women’s basketball, based on six feet of social distance among seating pods. Fans will be seated primarily in pods of two and four affiliated guests.

The college basketball season was originally scheduled to begin on November 10th, but has been pushed back to Wednesday, November 25th (the day before Thanksgiving). This allows the season to get underway while most students are away from campus - and with many schools not returning until the Spring semester. This gives the season a very good chance for success.

Clemson 2020/21 Schedule

Nov. 25 vs. Miss. State (Melbourne, FL / No fans)
Nov. 26 vs. Purdue/Liberty (Melbourne, FL / No fans)
Dec. 2 vs. SC State
Dec. 9 vs. Maryland
Dec. 12 vs. Alabama (Atlanta)
Dec. 15 at Virginia Tech
**UPDATE** Dec. 19 at U of SC
Dec. 22 vs. Morehead St.
Dec. 29/30 vs. Florida State
Jan. 2 at Miami
Jan. 9 at North Carolina
Jan. 5/6 vs. NC State
Jan. 12/13 at Syracuse
Jan. 16 vs. Virginia
Jan. 19/20 at Georgia Tech
Jan. 23 at Florida State
Jan. 26/27 vs. Boston College
Jan. 30 at Duke
Feb. 2/3 vs. North Carolina
Feb. 6 vs. Syracuse
Feb. 13 vs. Georgia Tech
Feb. 16/17 at Notre Dame
Feb. 21 at Pittsburgh
Feb. 23/24 at Wake Forest
Feb. 27 vs. Miami
Mar. 2/3 vs. Louisville
Mar. 5/6 vs. Pittsburgh

The regular season will be shortened by four games. Clemson will play 26 games, including for the second time 20 ACC games. The Tigers will play six non-conference games headlined by Maryland and Alabama. Although not on the schedule when first released, the Tigers and Gamecocks will renew their annual rivalry in Columbia on December 19th.

In ACC play, the Tigers will face Florida State and Georgia Tech twice, as they do each year. They also drew home-and-home contests against North Carolina, Syracuse, Miami, and Pittsburgh. Playing North Carolina and Florida State isn’t ideal, but avoiding the double-dip against Virginia, Louisville, and Duke certainly is. The schedule is reasonably favorable and boosts Clemson’s chances of a .500 ACC schedule.

Clemson basketball has been impossible to predict from year-to-year, or even game-to-game, but reaching 14-12 (10-10) may be doable, and that may be enough for the Tigers to reach the NCAA tournament.

The Tigers look to have an exciting season ahead. We’ll be providing several season preview articles in the coming days, so check back with us for more on the Hardwood Tigers.