The Next Step: Clemson not focused on national seed snub, but only on the task at hand

CLEMSON -- The team lounge inside Doug Kingsmore Stadium fell silent during the NCAA Tournament selection show on a rainy Monday afternoon.

The top eight national seeds were announced. Clemson, after posting a 45-14 record to finish a very strong year, was not one of them.

To much of the disdain from Clemson fans everywhere, North Carolina (6) and Florida State (7) were awarded national seeds. NCAA Selection Committee Chairman, and South Carolina Athletics Director, Ray Tanner explained how Clemson’s resume didn’t measure up to Florida State or North Carolina.

Clemson players looked on in silence.

Days before, the Tigers fell 5-4 to the Seminoles in the ACC semifinals, which looked like it may have been the tiebreaker between the two.

You could make the case for any of thel three of the ACC squads on who is the best candidates for the coveted national seed that allows you to host a Super Regional.

But the national seed only matters if you make it that far, which is something Clemson hasn’t done in eight years.

You can’t skip steps, and the next step for Monte Lee and Clemson’s baseball program is to make it out of a home Regional after failing to do so three consecutive times it has hosted. It's about time this program made it back to where it used to make routinely.

For the past week, Lee has been adamant in claiming his team is more than deserving of being a national seed. Now that that’s out the window, the focus shifts to what his team is able to control.

“The bottom line is we always want to be a national seed. But, on the other hand, we also want to win a Regional. I think that’s the next step,” Lee said after the selection show. “Whether you are a national seed or not, you can’t play in the Super Regional unless you win a Regional. Let’s worry about what we can control first and foremost, which is trying to play our best baseball this weekend to see if we can find a way to win a Regional here at home.

“Then, we’ll move on to the next step if we get that far.”

To reach the Super Regional the Tigers are going to have to get past a couple familiar opponents. No. 3 seed St. Johns and No. 2 seed Vanderbilt were both in Clemson’s Regional a year ago.

The Commodores handled Clemson in two of the three games they played in 2017, including an 8-0 beatdown where the winner would advance to the Super Regional.

“We all know how good Vanderbilt is,” Lee said.

In 2016, the Tigers were easily taken care of by No. 2 seed Oklahoma State, who took down Clemson in two consecutive games in Doug Kingsmore to send a fan base with high hopes home disappointed.

From 2005 to 2010, the Tigers made a Super Regional all but one year. Since its last trip to Omaha in 2010, Clemson ia 7-6 in Regional play.

Even with the lofty expectations Clemson had coming into this season, the pressure is on Lee and his group to finally break through the 8-year threshold. The third-year head coach believes his team has been consistently playing some of its best baseball and is in great position.

His biggest concern for this week of preparation is the weather and amount of time his guys will spend inside.

So while many on the outside may be upset with Tanner and his committee’s seedings, Clemson looks to hone in on the moment, focus on what it can control, and take advantage of one more week of baseball at Doug Kingsmore Stadium with the season on the line.

“We all know what matters and that’s this week… Now it is time to focus on the task at hand which is preparing our team for a tough regional,” Lee added.

After an 8-year drought, it’s time for Clemson to take the next step.

The Tigers will take on No. 4 seed Morehead State on Friday at 6:00 PM.