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Coach Brad Brownell's Clemson Tigers have lost back-to-back games in ACC play for the first time this season.
Clemson (20-6 overall, 10-3 conference) fell in a 76-66 upset loss to Virginia Tech at Littlejohn Coliseum on Wednesday. On Saturday, the Duke Blue Devils turned a close game at halftime into a double-digit wallop behind Cameron Boozer and Isaiah Evans in a 67-54 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Tigers may have entered the week tied with Duke in the ACC standings, but coach Jon Scheyer's Blue Devils left no doubt that the road to the ACC still runs through Durham and Cameron Indoor. Boozer finished with 18 points and Evans had 17 as Duke would lead by as many as 16 in the second half.
Carter Welling led Clemson with 12 points against Duke and RJ Godfrey had 10. Prior to last week, the Tigers had won 13 of 14 games since suffering back-to-back losses to Alabama and BYU in early December.
With only five games remaining on Clemson's 2025-26 regular-season basketball schedule, here's where the Tigers land in this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Clemson is ranked No. 24 in the Monday's new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll entering Week 16 of the 2025-26 college basketball season. The Tigers are ranked one spot below Miami (Ohio), and one spot ahead of the Wisconsin Badgers.
Duke (23-2) remains the ACC's highest-ranked team, moving up three spots to No. 3. The Virginia Cavaliers (22-3, 10-2) jumped past North Carolina (20-5) to become the ACC's second-highest ranked team at No. 14 after the Tar Heels fell in an upset loss to Miami on Tuesday.
UNC fell seven spots to No. 20. The ACC has five teams ranked in the top 25. With Clemson bookending the rankings at No. 24, the Louisville Cardinals (19-6) moved up two spots to No. 21 following their fourth straight win on Saturday against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
For the first time since Jan. 5, there's a new No. 1 in the Coaches Poll. The Michigan Wolverines (24-1) reclaimed the top spot after the Arizona Wildcats (23-2) suffered their first losses of the season to Kansas and Texas Tech, respectively.
Arizona had spent five weeks at No. 1 in the Coaches Poll prior to Monday.
Here's a look at the full Week 16 rankings in the USA TODAY Sports men's basketball coaches poll.
No. 25 Iowa Hawkeyes
Alabama Crimson Tide 32; Villanova Wildcats 30; Utah State Aggies 20; Tennessee Volunteers 19; Iowa Hawkeyes 7; Kentucky Wildcats 6; Saint Mary's 2; Miami Hurricanes 1.
Clemson will visit Wake Forest (13-12, 4-8) Wednesday night in Winston-Salem. Tipoff for Clemson-Wake Forest is 7 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ACC Network.
The Tigers then host Florida State at Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday at noon ET. Clemson-FSU will be televised on The CW.
Here's a look at the Tigers' full 2025-26 men's basketball schedule.
All start times Eastern.
Overall: 20-6.
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson's ranking in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after Duke loss
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Clemson (20-6 overall, 10-3 conference) fell in a 76-66 upset loss to Virginia Tech at Littlejohn Coliseum on Wednesday. On Saturday, the Duke Blue Devils turned a close game at halftime into a double-digit wallop behind Cameron Boozer and Isaiah Evans in a 67-54 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Tigers may have entered the week tied with Duke in the ACC standings, but coach Jon Scheyer's Blue Devils left no doubt that the road to the ACC still runs through Durham and Cameron Indoor. Boozer finished with 18 points and Evans had 17 as Duke would lead by as many as 16 in the second half.
Carter Welling led Clemson with 12 points against Duke and RJ Godfrey had 10. Prior to last week, the Tigers had won 13 of 14 games since suffering back-to-back losses to Alabama and BYU in early December.
With only five games remaining on Clemson's 2025-26 regular-season basketball schedule, here's where the Tigers land in this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Is Clemson basketball still ranked in Coaches Poll following back-to-back losses?
Clemson is ranked No. 24 in the Monday's new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll entering Week 16 of the 2025-26 college basketball season. The Tigers are ranked one spot below Miami (Ohio), and one spot ahead of the Wisconsin Badgers.
Duke (23-2) remains the ACC's highest-ranked team, moving up three spots to No. 3. The Virginia Cavaliers (22-3, 10-2) jumped past North Carolina (20-5) to become the ACC's second-highest ranked team at No. 14 after the Tar Heels fell in an upset loss to Miami on Tuesday.
UNC fell seven spots to No. 20. The ACC has five teams ranked in the top 25. With Clemson bookending the rankings at No. 24, the Louisville Cardinals (19-6) moved up two spots to No. 21 following their fourth straight win on Saturday against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
New No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after Arizona suffers first losses
For the first time since Jan. 5, there's a new No. 1 in the Coaches Poll. The Michigan Wolverines (24-1) reclaimed the top spot after the Arizona Wildcats (23-2) suffered their first losses of the season to Kansas and Texas Tech, respectively.
Arizona had spent five weeks at No. 1 in the Coaches Poll prior to Monday.
Here's a look at the full Week 16 rankings in the USA TODAY Sports men's basketball coaches poll.
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan | 24-1 | 775 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 1/7 |
| 2 | Houston | 23-2 | 719 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2/8 |
| 3 | Duke | 23-2 | 695 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3/6 |
| 4 | Arizona | 23-2 | 670 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1/13 |
| 5 | UConn | 24-2 | 663 | 0 | 5 | - | 3/7 |
| 6 | Iowa State | 22-3 | 624 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2/18 |
| 7 | Purdue | 21-4 | 542 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 1/12 |
| 8 | Gonzaga | 25-2 | 500 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 5/20 |
| 9 | Nebraska | 22-3 | 497 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 5/NR |
| 10 | Illinois | 21-5 | 491 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 6/19 |
| 11 | Florida | 19-6 | 471 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 3/NR |
| 12 | Kansas | 19-6 | 445 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 9/NR |
| 13 | Texas Tech | 19-6 | 423 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 11/20 |
| 14 | Virginia | 22-3 | 388 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 14/NR |
| 15 | Michigan State | 20-5 | 349 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 8/21 |
| 16 | St. John's | 20-5 | 315 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 6/NR |
| 17 | Arkansas | 19-6 | 247 | 0 | 21 | 4 | 14/23 |
| 18 | Vanderbilt | 21-4 | 244 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 8/NR |
| 19 | Saint Louis | 24-1 | 233 | 0 | 19 | - | 19/NR |
| 20 | North Carolina | 20-5 | 200 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 12/25 |
| 21 | Louisville | 19-6 | 159 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 5/23 |
| 22 | BYU | 19-6 | 114 | 0 | 22 | - | 7/22 |
| 23 | Miami (OH) | 25-0 | 90 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 23/NR |
| 24 | Clemson | 20-6 | 68 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 18/NR |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 18-7 | 36 | 0 | NR | - | 21/NR |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 25 Iowa Hawkeyes
Others Receiving Votes
Alabama Crimson Tide 32; Villanova Wildcats 30; Utah State Aggies 20; Tennessee Volunteers 19; Iowa Hawkeyes 7; Kentucky Wildcats 6; Saint Mary's 2; Miami Hurricanes 1.
Clemson basketball schedule: When do the Tigers play next?
Clemson will visit Wake Forest (13-12, 4-8) Wednesday night in Winston-Salem. Tipoff for Clemson-Wake Forest is 7 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ACC Network.
The Tigers then host Florida State at Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday at noon ET. Clemson-FSU will be televised on The CW.
Here's a look at the Tigers' full 2025-26 men's basketball schedule.
All start times Eastern.
- Nov. 3: vs. New Hampshire (W, 88-38)
- Nov. 7: vs. Gardner-Webb (W, 97-59)
- Nov. 11: vs. Morehead State (W, 83-56)
- Nov. 15: at Georgetown (L, 79-74)
- Nov. 17: vs. North Alabama (W, 81-61)
- Nov. 21: vs. West Virginia (W, 70-67)
- Nov. 23: vs. Georgia (W, 97-94, OT)
- Nov. 28: vs. Alabama A&M (W, 92-56)
- Dec. 3: at Alabama (L, 90-84)
- Dec. 9 vs. BYU (L, 67-64)
- Dec. 13: vs. Mercer (W, 70-63)
- Dec. 16: vs. South Carolina (W, 68-61)
- Dec. 21: vs. Cincinnati (W, 68-65)
- Dec. 31: at Syracuse (W, 64-61)
- Jan. 3: at Pittsburgh (W, 73-68)
- Jan. 7: vs. SMU (W, 74-70)
- Jan. 10: at Notre Dame (W, 76-61)
- Jan. 13: vs. Boston College (W, 74-50)
- Jan. 17: vs. Miami (W, 69-59)
- Jan. 20: vs. NC State (L, 80-76, OT)
- Jan. 24: at Georgia Tech (W, 77-63)
- Jan. 31: vs. Pittsburgh (W, 63-52)
- Feb. 4: at Stanford (W, 66-64)
- Feb. 7: at California (W, 77-55)
- Feb. 11: vs. Virginia Tech (L, 76-66)
- Feb. 14: at Duke (L, 67-54)
- Feb. 18: at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Feb. 21: Florida State, Noon, The CW
- Feb. 28: vs. Louisville, ESPN or ESPN2
- March 3: at North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
- March 7: vs. Georgia Tech, Noon, ACC Network
Overall: 20-6.
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson's ranking in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after Duke loss
Continue reading...
