The ACC got a lot of teams in the NCAA Tournament this season. It’s hard to differentiate any team after Virginia as they just traded wins and losses among each other. Clemson was near Virginia’s level, but suffered an injury to their second-leading scorer.

There’s a trend of first-year coaches getting their teams in the tournament this season. Chris Jans was a smart hire by the Aggies. He’s was an assistant at Wichita State for years. He was able to learn under Gregg Marshall, who is one of the nation’s best college basketball coaches. 

Who do you think will win? 

Do you have #5 Clemson Tigers or #12 New Mexico State Aggies?

Clemson would be a lock to appear deep in this tournament if they didn’t lose Donte Grantham. They still have scoring options like their leading scorer Marcquise Reed, but Grantham was great at getting to the rim. Elijah Thomas will need to keep filling that role and taking care of business on offense without him. They will need to keep clamping down on defense if they hope to get far in this tournament.

New Mexico State is one of the best defensive teams in the WAC. They had wins over Davidson, New Mexico and Miami (FL) on their résumé, so they are no pushover. If Zach Lofton starts hitting perimeter shots, they can hang with just about any team. It’s been awhile since they’ve faced any Quadrant 1 or 2 teams, so I’m curious to see if they can still be as effective on defense.

Clemson are only 3-4 in their past seven games, but all four of those losses are to teams in the NCAA Tournament field. The Aggies don’t physically match-up well against the Tigers. I don’t want to talk ill of a team, but New Mexico State is not on their level right now. This will be a tune-up game before they face Auburn in the next round.

Prediction: #5 Clemson Tigers

**Check out the rest of our NCAA Tournament picks** 

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.