CLEMSON — Clemson basketball has made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.

The Tigers (21-11) are the No. 6 seed and will face No. 11 seed New Mexico (26-9) in the first round Friday (3:10 p.m., truTV) at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, in the West Region.

If Clemson gets past the Lobos, it would meet the winner of the game between No. 3 seed Creighton and No. 14 Colgate on Sunday. North Carolina is the No. 1 seed in the West.

After missing March Madness last year despite a third-place finish in the ACC, the Tigers added pieces and developed players to reach the big dance this season. PJ Hall, who made All-ACC first team, returned to Clemson for his senior year and led the team in scoring and blocks, and Ian Schieffelin made immense improvement in his junior season, nearly averaging a double-double in points and rebounds, to win ACC's Most Improved Player.

The Tigers added Joseph Girard III and Jack Clark from the transfer portal. Girard, who is third all-time in 3-pointers made in the ACC, transferred from Syracuse to provide 3-point shooting, and Jack Clark came from NC State to add rebounding and stout defense.

These additions paid dividends for Clemson, beginning the season with an 11-1 record. It earned Quad 1 wins against Boise State, Alabama, TCU and Pittsburgh. The Tigers went 11-9 in conference play, securing a Q1 win vs. North Carolina and Q2 wins against Pitt, Syracuse and Florida State.

Still, Clemson coach Brad Brownell described the Tigers' season as "good," falling short of "great" because of the lack of ACC wins. The Tigers began conference play losing three straight, were dealt four losses by one score in the final seconds and lost their last two road games in the regular season.

"These guys accomplished a lot to be a lock right now," Brownell said. "I think we all readily admit we wish we won a couple more ACC games."

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The Tigers lost their regular-season finale to Wake Forest to land the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament, then Boston College dismantled them in the ACC Tournament second round Wednesday. Yet, a combination of quality non-conference and ACC wins has Clemson reaching the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in Brownell's 14 years.

This is Clemson's 14th appearance in March Madness. It has never made the Final Four but has reached the Elite 8 once (1980) and the Sweet 16 four times (1980, 1990, 1997, 2018).

Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson’s March Madness opponent is New Mexico in 2024 NCAA Tournament