Clemson building a case for an NCAA tournament berth

Nearly three weeks into the month of January, Clemson couldn’t have asked for a better start to 2016.

Coming off three straight wins over Top 25 opponents, the Tigers are 5-1 against ACC foes and sit at No. 2 in the conference standings. The team hasn’t lost since Dec. 30, and that defeat came on the road against a North Carolina squad that occupies the top spot in the league.

A lot can change in the last seven weeks of the regular season, but for now, Brad Brownell’s group appears poised to surpass preseason expectations set by the media, which picked Clemson to finish 12th in the ACC. If the Tigers keep rolling like this, they’ll find themselves somewhere they haven’t been in five years.