The Clemson Tigers host the NC State Wolfpack in midweek play Tuesday to start the fourth week of ACC basketball play.
Clemson (16-3 overall) finds itself unbeaten and 6-0 in conference play after taking down a streaking Miami Hurricanes team that had won 10 straight games before Saturday. In the Tigers’ 69-59 win over the ‘Canes, Clemson jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes and never trailed.
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Carter Welling had a career-high 18 points, Jestin Porter added 11, and RJ Godfrey had 10 points as Clemson won its ninth straight overall since its last-second loss to BYU at the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 9. The Tigers also ended a 10-game Miami winning streak.
NC State (12-6, 3-2) carries no such streak into Tuesday’s game. The Wolfpack are coming off a 78-74 upset loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday in Raleigh despite 16 points from Quadir Copeland. Senior forward Darrion Williams leads NC State in scoring this season with 14.2 points per game.
Will Clemson beat NC State? ESPN’s prediction
ESPN’s matchup predictor, which offers a prediction model based on its college basketball power index (BPI) and other variables, gives Clemson a 67.5% chance to win and NC State a 32.5% chance.
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The Tigers are 23rd nationally in ESPN’s latest BPI ratings, up one spot from last week. Clemson has a 15.9 overall rating. The metrics give the Tigers an 6.4 rating on offense that ranks 49th nationally, and a 9.4 rating on defense that’s 16th nationally.
NC State is 28th nationally in BPI. The Wolfpack have an 8.3 rating on offense that ranks also 28th nationally and a 6.5 rating on defense that’s 38th.
ESPN projects Clemson basketball final record, odds of winning ACC after 6-0 start
Rounded up, ESPN’s BPI ratings give Clemson an overall final record projection of 24-7, the same as last week. That includes a 14-4 mark in ACC play. The Tigers’ remaining strength of schedule rates 74th nationally.
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Clemson is currently given a 14.6% chance of winning the ACC title, which is down slightly from 15% before the Tigers’ win over Miami.
The Duke Blue Devils lead ESPN’s BPI with a 24.3 rating (12.3 offense, 12.0 defense). Among ACC teams, Clemson is ranked fourth in BPI, one spot behind Virginia.
ACC basketball teams ranked by ESPN BPI
Here’s a full look at all 18 teams ranked by ESPN’s basketball power index.
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18. Boston College Eagles (0.2 BPI)
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17. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3.4 BPI)
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15. Stanford Cardinal (6.8 BPI)
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14. Pittsburgh Panthers (7.0 BPI)
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13. California Golden Bears (7.4 BPI)
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12. Virginia Tech Hokies (8.2 BPI)
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10. Syracuse Orange (9.4 BPI)
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9. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (10.3 BPI)
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8. SMU Mustangs (12.8 BPI)
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7. Miami Hurricanes (13.3 BPI)
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5. NC State Wolfpack (14.8 BPI)
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3. Virginia Cavaliers (16.5 BPI)
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2. Louisville Cardinals (20.4 BPI)
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1. Duke Blue Devils (24.3 BPI)
What is ESPN College Basketball Power Index (FPI)?
ESPN explains:
The College Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team’s W-L record is to achieve. Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily.”
Clemson basketball schedule 2026
Here’s a look at the Tigers’ full 2025-26 men’s basketball schedule.
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All start times Eastern.
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Nov. 3: vs. New Hampshire (W, 88-38)
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Nov. 7: vs. Gardner-Webb (W, 97-59)
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Nov. 11: vs. Morehead State (W, 83-56)
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Nov. 15: at Georgetown (L, 79-74)
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Nov. 17: vs. North Alabama (W, 81-61)
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Nov. 21: vs. West Virginia (W, 70-67)
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Nov. 23: vs. Georgia (W, 97-94, OT)
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Nov. 28: vs. Alabama A&M (W, 92-56)
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Dec. 9 vs. BYU (L, 67-64)
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Dec. 13: vs. Mercer (W, 70-63)
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Dec. 16: vs. South Carolina (W, 68-61)
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Dec. 21: vs. Cincinnati (W, 68-65)
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Dec. 31: at Syracuse (W, 64-61)
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Jan. 3: at Pittsburgh (W, 73-680)
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Jan. 7: vs. SMU (W, 74-70)
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Jan. 10: at Notre Dame (W, 76-61)
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Jan. 13: vs. Boston College (W, 74-50)
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Jan. 17: vs. Miami (W, 69-59)
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Jan. 20: vs. NC State, 7 p.m., The CW
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Jan. 24: at Georgia Tech, noon, The CW
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Jan. 31: vs. Pittsburgh, noon, ACC Network
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Feb. 4: at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACC Network
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Feb. 7: at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
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Feb. 11: vs. Virginia Tech, 7 p.m., ACC Network
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Feb. 14: at Duke, noon, ESPN
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Feb. 18: at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network
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Feb. 21: Florida State, noon, TBD
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Feb. 28: vs. Louisville, TBD
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March 3: at North Carolina, 7 p.m., TBD
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March 7: vs. Georgia Tech, noon, ACC Network
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson basketball odds of beating NC State in ACC showdown, per ESPN
