Coach Brad Brownell's Clemson Tigers wrapped up a perfect West Coast trip with a 77-55 blowout win over the California Golden Bears in ACC basketball play Saturday night.
Clemson (20-4 overall, 10-1 ACC) got 13 points apiece from senior RJ Godfrey and freshman guard Ace Buckner, and 11 points from both Carter Welling and fellow big man Jake Wahlin in the win over Cal.
The Tigers' victory followed a 66-64 win at Stanford on Wednesday night that saw Nick Davidson finish with 16 points and seven rebounds. Davidson made two free throws with 24 seconds left to put the Tigers ahead.
Three nights later in Berkeley, Clemson shot 55 percent from the floor and held the Golden Bears to only 40 percent shooting. The win over California also moved the Tigers into a first-place tie atop the ACC standings with the Duke Blue Devils, who fell 71-68 at rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill Saturday.
Clemson has won 13 of its last 14 games, as well as 14 straight ACC road games dating back to last season. It ties for the second-longest streak in ACC history. It is also the longest active streak among major teams in college basketball's major conferences.
Clemson will host Virginia tech, a bubble team in the latest NCAA Tournament projections, in midweek play Wednesday. The Tigers then head to Durham for a top 25 showdown against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium that will be for first place atop the ACC with only five conference games remaining after Saturday.
In the meantime, here's where Clemson lands in this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Did Clemson move up in new USA TODAY Sports Basketball Coaches Poll?
Clemson is ranked No. 18 in Monday's new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, up one spot from last week. The Tigers are ranked one spot below Rick Pitino's St. John's Red Storm and one spot above Saint Louis.
Duke (21-2) is still the ACC's highest-ranked team, but the Blue Devils fell two spots to No. 6. A new team jumped past the Virginia Cavaliers (20-3) to become the ACC's second-highest ranked team: North Carolina (19-4), which rose five spots to No. 13. Virginia climbed two spots to No. 15.
Clemson is one of five ACC teams ranked in this week's poll. The 23rd-ranked Louisville Cardinals (17-6) round out the ACC contingent of teams in the rankings.
USA TODAY Sports men's basketball Coaches Poll: ACC team up five spots after upset win
Here's a look at the full Week 15 rankings in the USA TODAY Sports men's basketball coaches poll.
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona | 23-0 | 774 | 30 | 1 | - | 1/13 |
| 2 | Michigan | 22-1 | 745 | 1 | 2 | - | 1/7 |
| 3 | Houston | 21-2 | 667 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 2/8 |
| 4 | Iowa State | 21-2 | 658 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 2/18 |
| 5 | UConn | 22-2 | 649 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3/7 |
| 6 | Duke | 21-2 | 643 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3/6 |
| 7 | Illinois | 20-4 | 563 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 6/19 |
| 8 | Nebraska | 21-2 | 538 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 5/NR |
| 9 | Kansas | 18-5 | 481 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 9/NR |
| 10 | Michigan State | 20-4 | 478 | 0 | 10 | - | 8/21 |
| 11 | Gonzaga | 23-2 | 455 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 5/20 |
| 12 | Purdue | 19-4 | 439 | 0 | 12 | - | 1/12 |
| 13 | North Carolina | 19-4 | 389 | 0 | 18 | 5 | 12/25 |
| 14 | Florida | 17-6 | 381 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 3/NR |
| 15 | Virginia | 20-3 | 332 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 15/NR |
| 16 | Texas Tech | 17-6 | 318 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 11/20 |
| 17 | St. John's | 18-5 | 259 | 0 | 22 | 5 | 6/NR |
| 18 | Clemson | 20-4 | 258 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 18/NR |
| 19 | Saint Louis | 23-1 | 193 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 19/NR |
| 20 | Vanderbilt | 19-4 | 181 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 8/NR |
| 21 | Arkansas | 17-6 | 179 | 0 | 21 | - | 14/23 |
| 22 | BYU | 17-6 | 138 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 7/22 |
| 23 | Louisville | 17-6 | 94 | 0 | 23 | - | 5/23 |
| 24 | Miami (OH) | 24-0 | 83 | 0 | 24 | - | 24/NR |
| 25 | Iowa | 18-5 | 71 | 0 | NR | 1 | 19/NR |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 25 Texas A&M
Others Receiving Votes
Kentucky 30; Alabama 24; Villanova 13; North Carolina State 13; Tennessee 10; Utah State 8; Texas A&M 7; Georgia 3; Santa Clara 1;
ACC basketball standings: Clemson continues surge as Duke falls https://t.co/FG0d8LArCepic.twitter.com/XRY08jbLNK
— Clemson Wire (@Clemson_Wire) February 8, 2026
Clemson basketball schedule 2026: Big week ahead for Brad Brownell's Tigers
Clemson will host Virginia Tech (16-8, 5-6) Wednesday at Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff for Clemson-Virginia Tech is 7 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ACC Network.
The Tigers then visit Duke on Saturday at noon ET. Clemson-Duke will be televised on ESPN.
Here's a game by game look at Clemson's 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, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Feb. 14: at Duke, Noon, ESPN
- Feb. 18: at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network
- Feb. 21: Florida State, Noon, The CW
- Feb. 28: vs. Louisville, TBD
- March 3: at North Carolina, 7 p.m., TBD
- March 7: vs. Georgia Tech, Noon, ACC Network
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson basketball rises in latest Coaches Poll entering Duke showdown