Clemson basketball learns key nonconference foe for 2025-26 season

Clemson men’s basketball has announced its opponent for the 2025 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic opener in November.

The Tigers will face the West Virginia Mountaineers at 6:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 21 at TD Arena in Charleston, Clemson announced Tuesday. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Clemson and West Virginia have met six previous times on the hardwood, most recently in November 2021 when the two programs squared off in that year’s Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic, a 66-59 Mountaineers win.

West Virginia leads the all-time series vs. Clemson, 5-1. The Tigers and Mountaineers will join the Georgia Bulldogs and Xavier Musketeers in their bracket of the Charleston tournament, it was announced earlier this summer.

Elsewhere in nonconference play, Clemson will face the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2025 ACC-SEC Challenge on Dec. 3 at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, as well as the Georgetown Hoyas from the Big East on Nov. 15 in Washington, DC.

Clemson will visit Madison Square Garden as part of the annual Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 9 and face the BYU Cougars. Clemson-BYU is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. ET tipoff on ESPN. The annual rivalry game vs. South Carolina is scheduled to return to Littlejohn Coliseum this season, though an official date and start time have yet to be announced.

Coach Brad Brownell is set to enter his 16th season as Clemson’s basketball coach, the longest tenured coach in the ACC. The Tigers have reached the NCAA Tournament two straight years, including an Elite Eight run in 2024 following upsets of No. 3 seed Baylor and No. 2 seed Arizona.

Last season, Clemson fell to McNeese State, 69-67, in a first-round upset in Providence, Rhode Island. That marked a disappointing finish to what was the most successful regular season in program history.

The Tigers won a school-record 27 games, 18 ACC contests, and finished 26-5 in the regular season and 27-7 overall. Clemson notched upsets of Duke and No. 4 Kentucky, and defeated North Carolina in an 85-65 blowout at Littlejohn Coliseum on Feb. 10, two nights after taking down No. 2 Duke, 77-71.

Clemson cracked the top 10 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and finished the season ranked No. 23 in the final poll.

After losing sixth-year senior Chase Hunter, big men Viktor Lakhin and Ian Schieffelin (now a tight end for Dabo Swinney’s football team), as well as guard Jaeden Zackery (eligibility) and starting forward Chauncey Wiggins (transfer portal), Clemson appears to face an uphill battle to reach a third straight NCAA Tournament in 2026.

The Tigers haven’t appeared in any way-too-early top 25 rankings for 2025-26 or in early bracketology forecasts from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm and others.

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