It’s been less than twenty-four hours since the selections were announced for this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament. And it’s obvious that the sting of being left out has not subsided in Clemson, South Carolina. The Tigers, who finished third in the ACC and thought they had done enough to earn an at-large bid, were the fourth team on the outside looking in at the tournament field and will be playing in the National Invitation Tournament.
“I still adamantly feel like they (NCAA selection committee) made a mistake,” head coach Brad Brownell fumed on Monday. “It’s hard to listen to some of the things that are said. Basically, it was all metrics, is what it looks like. And the problem with that is there are so many metrics that they just pick and choose.”
#1-seed Clemson will host Morehead State on Wednesday night at 7:00pm. The winner of that game will face the winner of Southern Miss and 4th-seeded UAB. Michigan is the #2 seed, and Vanderbilt is the #3 seed in Clemson’s quarter of the bracket.
Brownell clearly utilized Monday’s press conference to voice his displeasure with the selection process. But he also took the occasion to relay his belief that the Tigers will rally to the challenge against the Eagles, who are making their first ever trip to the N.I.T.
**Also Monday, Clemson AD Graham Neff announced that Brad Brownell will return for a 14th season. “I am excited to move forward with Brad,” Neff said. “We will have a lot of discussions once the season is over. I want us to continue to plan for the NCAA Tournament. We weren’t selected last night but I view us as an NCAA Tournament team.”
