Clemson Men's Basketball NCAA Tournament Seed, Destination Revealed

CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson University men’s basketball earned an at-large bid into the 2026 NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed and will face the No. 9 seed Iowa in Tampa, Fla. on Friday, March 20 in the first round.

This marks the sixth time under Head Coach Brad Brownell and third consecutive season that the Tigers have advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers will be making their 16th tournament appearance overall. All have taken place since 1980.

IPTAY donors and fans should visit NCAATickets.com or seek secondary options due to limited ticket availability.

Clemson enters the tournament with a 24-10 record, including an 12-6 mark in regular-season ACC games.

RJ Godfrey (Suwanee, Ga./North Gwinnett/Georgia) was named Honorable Mention All-ACC this season and earned career highs in many categories. The Tigers are led in scoring by Godfrey with an 11.9 average. He has seen career highs in points (406), rebounds (180), steals (22), field goal percentage (.612) and minutes (853).

As one of just three players in the ACC to play at the same school all four years, Dillon Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake) turned in a career-year for the Tigers. Hunter averaged a career-best 7.5 points per game and added a career-high 103 assists this season. Hunter raised all his shooting percentages this year, in addition to adding well over 100 rebounds. He is second on the team in steals.

Clemson has held a mantra of “Everybody All the Time” this season, and it has certainly rung true for its success on the court. Clemson has eight players averaging at least 6.0 points per game and seven players averaging 20.0 minutes or more per game. The Tigers own a top 20 defensive rating according to Ken Pomeroy.

The Tigers enter the tournament with 24 victories, marking the first time in school history that Clemson has won at least 23 games in four consecutive seasons. Clemson also has a 98-40 record since 2022-23 – the second-most wins in the ACC.

Clemson’s most successful NCAA runs came in both 2024 and 1980, earning trips to the Elite Eight. In 1980, the first year Clemson was selected, the Tigers won three tournament games under head coach Bill Foster and reached the Elite Eight of the tournament before losing to UCLA. Clemson also made the Elite Eight in 2024 under Coach Brownell. The Tigers defeated New Mexico, Baylor and Arizona before losing to Alabama.

Coach Brownell has taken three different programs to the NCAA Tournament. He previously took UNC Wilmington in 2003 and 2006, Wright State in 2007 and Clemson in 2011, 2018, 2021, 2024 and 2025. He took each school to the tournament in his first year with the program.

Clemson holds a 14-15 record in the NCAA Tournament that includes two Elite Eight appearances and five trips to the Sweet 16.

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