Clemson Basketball's 2010-2011 Schedule: Peek & Review

Who needs to travel when you can just play at home or near your home? That certainly had to be the thought process in Clemson's upcoming basketball schedule.

Overall, the Tigers have a pretty easy non-conference schedule with games against lightweights like Western Carolina, SC State, Savannah State, UNC Greensboro, Delaware State, East Carolina, and The Citadel. In fact, except for the one regular season tournament, the Tigers will never have to leave the Carolinas until conference play. So much for adding up those frequent flier miles.

There are a couple of early pitfalls to watch out for though. They have the reigning Southern Conference champion Wofford coming into LittleJohn on November 15. Clemson will also be hosting Michigan for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Go ahead and circle a road trip to the College of Charleston as well. It’s three days before Christmas and the Cougars aren’t afraid of the big boys at home, defeating North Carolina last year.

Clemson will appear in one early season tournament. The Tigers will head to the Virgin Islands to participate in The Paradise Jam (Nov. 19-22). They’ll face Long Beach State in the opener. Alabama, Iowa, Seton Hall, and Xavier are all in the Jam, but all reside on the other side of the bracket.

Conference play begins early in Tallahassee, as Clemson will face Florida State on December 12. The Tigers catch a bit of a break this season. They’ll face both Duke and Virginia Tech only once this year.

If the Tigers are smart, they’ll earn some wins early in conference play, because their final six will be their toughest. They’ll end the season at home against North Carolina, before heading to an improved NC State and Miami. They are back home against Wake Forest, before heading to Cameron to face Duke. They end the year at home against Virginia Tech. That smells like a 2-4 ending to me.

Of course, you can’t talk about a Clemson schedule without talking about a trip to Chapel Hill. As everyone should already know, the Tigers have dropped 54 straight games at North Carolina. If there was one year the Tigers should have ended that streak, it was last year, but sadly for them, Clemson wasn’t scheduled for a trip to Chapel Hill.

This year, the Tigers return to the Dean Dome on January 18.

Ironically, BC takes on Wake Forest only once all season, and it will be the last game of the season. Yes, I know that’s not technically ironic, but it’s still weird.

All ACC Schedules Can Be Found at ACC AIRBALL

Boston College—Tuesday, Sept 7

Clemson—Wednesday, Sept 8

Duke—Thursday, Sept 9

Florida State—Friday, Sept 10

Georgia Tech—Saturday, Sept 11

Maryland—Sunday, Sept 12

Miami (FL)—Monday, Sept 13

North Carolina—Tuesday, Sept 14

North Carolina State—Wednesday, Sept 15

Virginia—Thursday, Sept 16

Virginia Tech—Friday, Sept 17

Wake Forest—Saturday, Sept 18