CLEMSON -- A year ago last night, Clemson's trip to the ACC Tournament was sponsored by QuikTrip.
Today they'll spend all day and some of the evening preparing for their late-night game in Charlotte.
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A year ago they were on their way home from Washington on Thursday after an unsightly loss to Boston College.
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"I don't understand," Brad Brownell said after that game. "Defensively I thought we were OK, but we didn't get any defensive rebounds. ... We just weren't quite ready. Ultimately that's on me. I don't really understand it. I thought we were. But we looked a half step slow and lacked urgency."
Clemson had four days to marinate in the pall of what happened over a mere 40 minutes of basketball. The vibes were so ominous and negative that they even infected part of the reception for Clemson's name popping on the screen during the Selection Sunday festivities.
The team itself was already past the defeat long before it gathered to watch the show. But those outside the program were not.
Maybe there's a lesson there as we all reset here with Clemson looking back at a spectacular regular season and showing plenty of reason to think it can continue this special run into March Madness.
The bandwagon was basically empty a year ago. It was them against the Clemson world when they set off for Memphis to face New Mexico State -- or at least the social-media world that laughed at any idea of Brownell being capable of steering the Tigers to a win in the opening round, let alone a magical run to the Elite Eight.
A year later, any Clemson fan with any sanity is hoping Indiana or some other school doesn't scoop up Brownell after the season. You become a commodity when you follow up high March achievement by amassing 26 wins and an 18-2 mark in the ACC. Brownell is that, and we anticipate he'll get a new contract reflecting it come later this spring or summer.
Last year the Tigers were 11-10 against ACC teams, and six of those losses came to teams with losing conference records.
This year, 15 of their 18 conference wins were by double digits. And overall, three of their five losses were in overtime.
We never thought we'd be saying this in the year following the departure of PJ Hall and Joe Girard, but here we are and this team seems to have it all.
It has a bunch of guys who can shoot from outside, reducing the pressure on the best players to perform at the highest level every night.
It has a high level of unselfishness, and a desire to make the extra pass to find a great shot instead of just a good shot.
It has a defender at the top, Jaeden Zackery, who presents an exhausting challenge to opposing point guards.
It has a defender near the post, Viktor Lakhin, who can also be a nightmare to face.
Add in two first-rate warriors who rise to big moments in Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin, and then sprinkle in regular significant contributions from role players Dillon Hunter, Chauncey Wiggins, Del Jones and Jake Heidbreder.
Now take how freaking hard this team plays seemingly every night, maybe harder than any team out there, and you have yourself quite a team.
A team that's capable of beating anyone.
"Do we have the talent and the experience to make a deep run in the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament? I think we do," Brownell said. "But we have to play very well. We need some good things to happen for us, too. I mean it's a combination. But we certainly have the tools and the pieces and the experience to make that happen, yeah."
Last year's team discovered how good it was in November and December but then seemed to lose its focus and drive on a regular basis.
At one point Brownell had to remind them that they were playing with fire and if they lost too many games they'd risk being on the outside looking in just as they were the year before when the selection committee snubbed them.
He told that team he believed it was good enough to reach the Final Four. That seemed to get their attention.
He probably doesn't have to say that to this group. But to his point above, that doesn't mean they're automatically destined for a long run in Charlotte and a longer run beyond.
Every challenge is different. You need to play well, but the other team has to not play well in some respects.
It's not a crap shoot -- this team is too good for that -- but there are still variables involved.
Brownell captured them here:
"PJ Hall got in foul trouble a lot in the NCAA Tournament, and obviously our bench guys came in and really helped us. And if they don't play that way, we don't win. That's just part of tournament basketball. The hard thing about a one-game shot is a guy has a bad shooting night, a guy gets in foul trouble.
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"They got somebody on their side that goes crazy and has a great night. That's one of the great things about basketball. It's also one of the horrific things about basketball.
"But there are going to be times when you need some guys that maybe aren't your all-conference players to step up and make a couple of big plays, for sure."
It's also worth remembering that last year's quick trip to D.C. wasn't the worst thing in the world. In fact, the loss to Boston College might've been the best thing to happen to a team that put its full focus on rediscovering its best, and on changing minds and perceptions.
No minds really need changing now. The bandwagon is full, and as gratifying as that is for Brownell it might also be a tad bewildering too because of the edge that comes when you and your team are doubted.
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But a year after hearing screams that he was a dead man walking, Brownell is walking tall and probably prefers that option.
He's definitely earned that option.
