How they got in: At-large bid

Basically: Head coach Oliver Purnell has taken the program from the bottom to respectability in a few years with a tough defense and a veteran group that battled its way off the bubble with a decent ACC season. There's no shame in finishing third in the regular season behind North Carolina and Duke. But with good talent in place and so much on the line late in the year, losses at Miami, Florida State and Georgia Tech made it a tougher road to the tournament than it should've been. There's veterans, good depth, and plenty of excitement after the team missed out on the post-season fun for the last ten years. This Clemson team won't just be happy to break the drought.

Strengths: Pressure defense. The ACC's most aggressive defense forces tons of mistakes, which ends up generating the offense. One of the tournament's most balanced scoring teams, there are six strong options and no one player who'll bring down the offense if he isn't hot. Any team with average, sloppy guards will get destroyed by the Tiger D. But while Clemson takes it away...

Weaknesses: ...it also gives it up. This isn't exactly a stingy offense, turning it over around 15 times per game, and fouls have been a big problem all year. Worst of all, this is a horrific free-throw shooting bunch, and it will likely be the Achilles' heel in a tight pressure moment. There's a ceiling on how far a team can go when it keeps losing the free-throw shooting margin.

Players you should care about: One of the ACC's best sixth man throughout the first part of his career, junior K.C. Rivers has blossomed into Clemson's best all-around weapon with a tremendous stroke from the outside and good quickness to get to the basket. While he's not all that huge at 6'5" and 215 pounds, he's a solid rebounder. Rivers leads the team in scoring, and he might have to do even more if No. 2 scorer Cliff Hammonds has problems with a broken wrist on his non-shooting hand. While it wasn't an immediate issue, it's not a plus considering he's the team's leading assist man.

Best wins: Purdue 61-58; Miami 79-69

Worst losses: Charlotte 82-72; at Georgia Tech 80-75