Clemson walked into the preseason AP Top 25 release without a single vote, and the omission pointed straight at the question hovering over Brad Brownell’s team: who is going to run the offense?
The Tigers were picked to finish sixth in the ACC, but the AP poll still left them out entirely. Duke landed at No.
2, Virginia checked in at No. 9, Louisville at No. 11 and Miami at No.
- North Carolina and Virginia Tech also picked up votes.
That lack of recognition does not come out of nowhere. Clemson’s backcourt picture is shaky, and that uncertainty is the biggest reason the Tigers were overlooked.
Zac Foster is done for the season after tearing the same ACL again, and Dillon Hunter’s future for 2026-27 is still unsettled. For now, Brownell is left relying on Ace Buckner and true freshman Harris Reynolds to handle the ball.
Carter Welling should be back for league play, which gives Clemson a boost inside, but the roster still feels thin in the places that matter most early. The Tigers are behind the eight ball from a depth standpoint, and that makes the start of the season especially important.
A slow opening run in nonconference games would be the wrong kind of momentum for a team trying to stay in the at-large picture. There may be wins available along the way, but Clemson cannot afford to dig a hole before January arrives.
Brownell’s challenge is bigger than just plugging in a couple of guards. The Tigers’ ceiling was built around Foster and Welling, and with Foster out and Welling still working back from the torn ACL he suffered in March, Clemson has to mature quickly.
Hunter would be a welcome addition if his eligibility issue is eventually resolved, but for now he remains ineligible while his case sits under an appellate court stay. That leaves Brownell trying to piece together a workable rotation with very little margin for error.
The positive for Clemson is that Brownell has plenty of trust banked with the program, the fan base and the administration, so there is time to sort this out. The frontcourt was a major strength for the Tigers a season ago, and it still could be.
The problem is what happens before the ball gets there. If Clemson cannot identify who it trusts to bring it up the floor, turnovers could pile up fast.
Buckner already knows the program, while Reynolds and Notre Dame transfer Cole Certa are still newcomers. That could push Clemson into a slower pace than expected, which only raises the pressure to finish possessions and cash in on scoring chances.
The bigger-picture concern is where Clemson fits in the ACC race for March. The league is expected to get somewhere between five and eight NCAA Tournament teams, with six or seven looking more likely. Duke, Louisville, Miami and Virginia look safe, but Clemson will have to fight off teams like North Carolina, North Carolina State and Virginia Tech just to stay in the conversation.
In Other News...
Dabo Swinney Zeroed In On Clemsons Biggest Passing Problem
Through six games, Clemsons passing offense has been a source of frustration, and Dabo Swinney did not try to dress it up as anything else this week. He pointed to missed opportunities and uneven execution, including dropped touchdown passes and a freshman quarterback still learning on the fly, as the kind of issues that have kept the Tigers from getting more out of the aerial game.
Swinney also stressed that the group has work left to do as Clemson turns to Virginia Tech, even after reaching a recent team goal. The bigger question now is whether the passing game can sharpen up quickly enough to match the rest of the teams progress, because the margin for error only gets thinner from here. [Read more 🡒]
Clemson Just Became Part Of South Carolinas Stretch Run Debate
South Carolinas bye week turned into a useful reminder of how much can still shift in the SEC and beyond, with several highly ranked teams taking losses and reopening the conversation around the rest of the Gamecocks schedule. The latest look at the remaining stretch puts Clemson in the mix among the six opponents still ahead, a group that is being sorted from easiest to toughest based on recent performance and the numbers that matter most down the stretch.
For Clemson, that place in the pecking order says plenty about the way South Carolinas path is being evaluated right now, with Arkansas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma all part of the same discussion. The Tigers are being weighed against the others through their strengths, their flaws and the way they could shape South Carolinas chances in November, which makes every one of those final games feel bigger than it did a week ago. [Read more 🡒]
Clemson Gets Another Prime-Time ACC Test At Florida State
Clemsons next road assignment now comes with a prime-time spotlight, as the ACC has set the Tigers trip to Florida State for Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. on the ACC Network. It is the kind of late-season stage Clemson has grown used to, and it arrives with the Tigers sitting at 4-2 and still in position to strengthen their standing in the league if they take care of Virginia Tech at home first.
Florida State, meanwhile, will be waiting after a bye week and trying to steady a season that has slipped to 3-4. Doak Campbell Stadium has a way of making November-caliber games feel bigger than the records attached to them, and this one already carries the look of an ACC measuring-stick night for Clemson as it tries to keep its conference path in front of it. [Read more 🡒]