STF's Super Awesome Top 30 Team Preview: #30 Clemson Tigers

#30 CLEMSON TIGERS


TEAM: Clemson Tigers

CONFERENCE: ACC

2006 RECORD AND ENDING: 25-11 (7-9) Lost to West Virginia in NIT title game.

KEY PLAYERS RETURNING: Cliff Hammonds, K.C. Rivers, Trevor Booker

WHAT'S TO LOVE: Clemson came on strong at the end of last year, despite being relegated to the NIT. K.C. Rivers is just beginning to realize his full potential after coming off of the bench for most of last season.

WHATS NOT TO LOVE: Clemson has always been a middle-to-lower tier team in the ACC. That’s a hard habit to break. The key is to at least break even in-conference.

KEY PLAYER: You think I’m going to say K.C. Rivers, but I’m not. Nobody, and I mean nobody, works harder than Cliff Hammonds. He is a senior, majoring in the rigorous Architecture program, and he also scores double figures and runs the point for an up-and-coming ACC team. That’s senior leadership.

BEST CASE: Clemson reverses their conference mark from last year, going 9-7, which is enough to earn them a trip to the big dance.

WORST CASE: If the Tigers don’t build on their dominance at home, or at least hold serve, they could be headed back to Madison Square Garden.

STF PREDICTION: 22-9 (8-8) Likely Bubble team.