Clemson men’s basketball enjoyed a rare weekend off as the Tigers started looking forward to the final month of the regular season. Head coach Brad Brownell took full advantage of the free time by basking in the glow of his other favorite team, the Cincinnati Bengals. On Sunday, Brownell was able to watch his beloved NFL franchise advance to the Super Bowl with a 27-24 OT victory at Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game.
Despite growing up in Indiana, Brownell is a die-hard Cincinnati fan pulling for both the Bengals and Reds. He noted during the ACC Zoom call on Monday that the Colts were not in Indianapolis during his youth, so he grew up pulling for the Bengals, who his parents rooted for as well. As a matter of fact, the Tigers head coach witnessed Sunday’s comeback victory over the Chiefs, who led 21-3 late in the first half, with his mom.
“Had ’em right where we wanted ’em,” the Evansville, Indiana native boasted about Cincinnati’s early deficit. “We’re a road team, we’re a road team, we’ve got Joe Burrow, we’ve got three Clemson Tigers on the team. We had ’em right where we wanted ’em. I don’t know what (Patrick) Mahomes drank at halftime but it certainly changed his performance.”
Brownell also pivoted back to basketball, recapping his team’s defensive effort at Duke while looking forward to Wednesday’s home date with Florida State. The contest tips off at 7pm on the ACC Network.
