Every college basketball team in the country starts the season with the goal of getting to the Final Four and playing for a national championship.

For blue-bloods such as North Carolina and Duke, it’s an expectation.

For Clemson, a school noted more for its football success, or NC State, which had to win 5 games in 5 days just to get into the NCAA Tournament, it’s more of a hope.

That’s why it’s way too soon for the Tigers and Wolfpack to start patting themselves on the back for a job well done.

Winning 2 games and getting to the Sweet 16 is a great accomplishment for both teams, especially considering how both ended the regular season. But they can’t allow themselves to feel as though they’ve accomplished something just by getting this far.

At least not yet.

Because while the Tar Heels and Blue Devils stand a reasonable chance of being back in this position again next year after combining for 30 regional semifinal appearances since 2000 and 69 all-time, you never know how long it will be for the next opportunity to come around if you’re Clemson or NC State.

Maybe it will happen again sooner rather than later. Maybe not.

So why chance it?

The opportunity to do something special, and in the Tigers’ case, something that’s never been done before, is right there for the taking now.

Go out and make the most of it.

It’s not as if either team is some overmatched mid-major that got here by accident.

Both are decided underdogs, according to ESPN BET sportsbook. And it will be considered an upset if either team wins its next game and advances to the Elite Eight or beyond.

But it also won’t be a surprise. Contrary to the newly debunked narrative that the ACC is an inferior league, Clemson and NC State have already proven their ability to compete with and beat some of the best competition in the country.

Case in point: If the 6th-seeded Tigers (-7.5) get by No. 2 Arizona in the West Region semifinal on Thursday in Los Angeles, they’ll earn a date against either top-seeded North Carolina or No. 4 Alabama for a trip to the Final Four.

Two teams they’ve already beaten this season.

On the road.

Brad Brownell’s team won 85-77 in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 28 – you know, that time of year in which the games supposedly mean more – and 80-76 in Chapel Hill on Feb. 6.

NC State’s list of victims in its 7-game winning streak includes UNC and Duke, 2 of the other 15 teams still alive in the tournament.

The 11th-seeded Wolfpack (-6.5) play Marquette, the No. 2 seed in the South Region, on Friday in Dallas. A victory could set up a rematch against the conference-rival Blue Devils in the Elite Eight. Either that or a shot at top-seeded Houston – the team State’s Cardiac Pack upset in the national championship game to cap another improbable postseason run in 1983.

That incredible accomplishment, which introduced us to the phrase “Survive and Advance” and created the legend of Jimmy V, has been evoked numerous times already during the past couple of weeks.

So has the memory of Kemba Walker and his UConn team that used a similar 5-win surprise in the Big East Tournament as a springboard to their 2011 national title.

NC State’s accomplishment, like its breakout star DJ Burns, would be super-sized compared to either of those previous surprise champions after coming into the postseason on what appeared to be a soul-crushing 4-game losing streak.

But momentum – and destiny – can be a powerful thing. And Kevin Keatts’ team is riding a tsunami of both.

If teams such as VCU, Loyola of Chicago and Florida Atlantic can make it to the Final Four, then why not the Wolfpack?

Their players, who have been seen on social media wearing t-shirts asking “Why Not Us?” are already fully invested in that line of thinking.

Clemson has just as much motivation to keep its roll going.

One year ago, with a better record than they have now, the Tigers were forced to sit at home and watch other teams advance to the Sweet 16 after being inexplicably snubbed on Selection Sunday.

Virtually everyone on that team, including starters PJ Hall, Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin, are back. And they’ve got the look of a highly motivated team intent on doing more than just winning games.

“Some of these guys, you want it so bad for them,” Brownell said after Sunday’s 2nd-round win against Baylor, the No. 3 seed in the West. “You talk to them about it all year. And now they’re realizing why this is such a significant tournament and what it’s going to mean for them for the rest of their lives.”

The Tigers have been on a mission to right some old wrongs. And some new ones as well after being set as an underdog in the opening round against New Mexico, despite being the higher seed.

Now that those goals have been accomplished by getting through to the Sweet 16, Brownell and his team have a chance to set their sights on a new, even more satisfying goal.

It’s an opportunity they shouldn’t take for granted.

Because you just never know when or even if they’ll be in this position again.