Poor Tigers...

Clemson started the basketball season 17-0, yet when the time came to play the games that count they were shooting "air balls." Clemson is the first BCS conference team in history to start a season 17-0 and miss the NCAA tournament.

BUT

Clemson University's men's basketball team received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Sunday night and will play host to East Tennessee State in a first-round game Wednesday.

The game will start at 6 p.m. at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Clemson (21-10), which is headed to the NIT for the third straight year, harbored NCAA ambitions to the end.

The Tigers started the season 17-0, but finished by losing 10 of their final 14 games, then lost to Florida State last Thursday in the opening round of the ACC Tournament. The Tigers were not one of the seven Atlantic Coast Conference teams named to the 65-team NCAA tournament field.

Clemson is seeded first in the South Regional of the NIT. If the Tigers continue to win, their first three games would be at home.