In what is a logical progression on the road to next year’s NCAA Tournament, the NC State Wolfpack hold a 6th seed will play at 3rd seeded South Florida at 8pm Tuesday night on ESPNU. Link to TampaOnline article:
The Bulls (20-12) will seek their first postseason win in 15 years against the Wolfpack (19-15), who finished 11th out of 12 teams in the ACC, with a 5-11 record in conference play. N.C. State has played some of its best basketball in the state of Florida this year, with wins at Florida State and Miami.
With a No. 3 seed, the Bulls would likely play their second NIT game on the road later this week, though an upset could open up another home game for USF.
You can view the entire NIT bracket by clicking here.
The television analyst in ESPNU’s studio had the following positive things to say about State:
“NC State is the other team on this side of the bracket that intrigues me…I think NC State is a scary team”
The Wolfpack’s bracket appears to be one of the tougher while the bracket that includes Virginia Tech as the #1 seed appears to be the easiest.
Strangely, The University of North Carolina Tarheels not only got a bid, but was a full two seeds above the Wolfpack in the exact same bracket. But, when you consider that higher seeds get to play at home and ESPN can now broadcast another Carolina basketball game…perhaps their bid and seeding isn’t so strange. Somewhere, a bubble team like UNC-Charlotte is wishing for some justice.
To be honest, I would rather draw South Florida than William & Mary who will do battle with the Tarheels. You can click here for more conversation about USF.
The following is the NIT schedule taken from the NIT’s website:
First Round: Tuesday, March 16 and Wednesday, March 17
Second Round: Thursday, March 18, Friday, March 19, Saturday, March, 20 and Monday, March 22
Quarterfinal Round: Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24
Semifinals: Tuesday, March 30 7pm & 9pm (Madison Square Garden)
Championship: Thursday, April 1 7pm (Madison Square Garden)
