Stop with the Clemson Should be in Instead of NC State Narrative

“… I’m sensitive to the whole, ‘We beat NC State!’ three times thing, because that’s fair. I think head-to-head is a big factor.” (Link)

Look, I get it. Clemson beat NC State three times this year. They owned the Wolfpack. In fact, they have won 6 straight. No offense to the Tigers, but in my opinion, that’s unacceptable.

But just because you beat a team three times doesn’t mean you deserve to get in over that team. What you did in the rest of your body of work matters as well.

Clemson also finished 14-6 in the ACC compared to NC State’s 12-8 conference record.

They even had 4 Quad 1 wins, going 4-4 against Quad 1 opponents. NC State was 1-6 against Quad 1 opponents.

So Clemson has the same amount of overall wins as NC State, more conference wins, and more Quad 1 wins.

What about wins against teams that were ranked in the Top-25 when the game was played? NC State has 2 and Clemson has 1.

When it comes down to it, the problem wasn’t Clemson’s wins, it was their losses. The Tigers had 2 Quad 3 losses and 2 Quad 4 losses. They lost to South Carolina, Loyola Chicago, Boston College and Louisville.

Do I think this makes NC State a better team with a better resume than Clemson? No, not necessarily.

In fact, I think that Clemson should be an NCAA Tournament team.

With that being said, just because I believe that Clemson should be in the Dance, doesn’t mean that I think NC State shouldn’t.

Why not make the argument that Clemson should have made it over Arizona State or Pitt, who ranked 66th and 67th in the NET Rankings. Clemson finished 60th in the NET Rankings. For perspective, NC State finished ranked 44th in the NET.

Just because Clemson is deserving to be in the Dance, doesn’t mean that NC State isn’t deserving.

They both are.

Don’t discount NC State simply because Clemson was snubbed.