Syracuse starts the week at #1 (Updated 6:30am)

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The Syracuse Orange will visit the RBC Center on Saturday evening as the nation’s top ranked basketball team, providing NC State a unique opportunity to compete against a #1 ranked national out of conference opponent.

The Orange and the Pitt Panthers will join the Atlantic Coast Conference at some (yet undetermined) time in the future; those additions, along with the (assured) improvement from Mark Gottfried’s NC State Wolfpack will go a long way in re-establishing the ACC as the dominant conference in college basketball. Obviously, the ACC is struggling a bit this year. (LINK)…and BC Interruption does a good job in this entry of quantifying where things stand for the conference’s teams.

The Fayetteville Observer’s ACC Basketball Blog had a couple of great pieces on NC State’s performance against #1 ranked teams. This initial entry was followed up with more detail in this clarifying piece.

Some fans, when looking back at N.C. State’s history against No. 1 teams, have wondered about a 1958 game between the Wolfpack and an Oscar Robertson-led Cincinnati club.

According to the Cincinnati media guide, the Bearcats were No. 1 for most of December, but they arrived at the Dixie Classic with a No. 2 ranking. There, they beat Wake Forest 94-70 on Dec. 29, lost 69-60 to fifth-ranked N.C. State on Dec. 30 and lost 90-88 to fourth-ranked North Carolina on Dec. 31.

Cincinnati lost one more game in the regular season (against Bradley), lost in the Final Four to California and finished 26-4 after beating Louisville in the third-place game. Robertson averaged 33.7 points and 14.1 rebounds that season.

The Cincinnati ‘example’ underscores that playing a team the exact week(s) in which the opponent is ranked #1 doesn’t mean much of anything other than providing a neat little statistic to discuss. For example, the 1983 NC State Wolfpack defeated the Houston Cougars while the Cougars were ranked #1 in the country. However, the Wolfpack won an incredible FIVE GAMES against teams who held the #1 ranking at some point during the season (and a 6th game against a UNLV team that climbed as high as #2 in the polls).

In the 2011-2012 season, NC State is currently ‘treading water’ against a difficult out of conference schedule. At this point in the season, the 6-3 Wolfpack has played the 40th most difficult schedule in the country and is currently ranked 68th in the RPI. In addition to playing (currently) #3 Syracuse (RPI), State has the following match-ups on the horizon before starting league play at home on January versus Maryland.

#80) at St. Bonaventure
#163) Northeastern
#136) Campbell
#200) Western Carolina
#264) Delaware State

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11-12 Basketball College Basketball NCS Basketball Tradition

14 Responses to Syracuse starts the week at #1 (Updated 6:30am)

  1. cWOhLFrPAiCKs 12/12/2011 at 9:31 PM #

    A much improved OOC schedule compared to years (and I mean YEARS) past. Even if we aren’t winning all of them, I’ll be glad to have a much better assessment of this team heading into conference play, and I’m sure Gott feels the same. Hoping the team can figure out the zone before Cuse.

  2. bluelena69 12/12/2011 at 10:24 PM #

    I don’t get these power rankings. How on earth is Clemson 6th when you take their losses into consideration. Who have they beaten? Granted, we have only beaten Texas, but look at our losses compared to theirs. In retrospect, those losses are not bad, especially with Indiana knocking off UK.

  3. blpack 12/12/2011 at 10:27 PM #

    I think we give them a real game on Saturday night.

  4. mak4dpak 12/12/2011 at 10:55 PM #

    I say the Central game was a set up, and we are gonna have Syracuse thinking this will be an easy win. Upset! We finally find a way to finish a game, with confidence. And I will be at RBC center to witness it. Can’t remember the last time I have been to a BB game there. Here’s to a new beginning.

  5. DC_wolf 12/12/2011 at 11:21 PM #

    Can’t think of a better reason to don the red & Pack the house than hosting the #1 team in the country (& it ain’t 1 of the “blues”).

    C’mon folks… celebrate the end of exams – or @ least take a break from Christmas shopping – by yelling your heads off @ those interloppers from up north… Go PACK!

  6. Wufpacker 12/13/2011 at 12:28 AM #

    Here’s to hoping ‘Cuse’s stay at the top is a short one, courtesy of a good ol’ fashioned buzzsaw whuppin’ in Raleigh Saturday night. Let’s welcome our new conference-mates in style….by sending them home with a great big “L”.

  7. eas 12/13/2011 at 12:54 AM #

    I would love to beat Jim B. and his arrogant arse! Go Pack!!!

  8. wufpup76 12/13/2011 at 6:37 AM #

    I can’t believe that I’m unable to attend this game …

    All those who will be there please pull them through for me. Make it loud.

  9. tuckerdorm1983 12/13/2011 at 7:13 AM #

    we better come with our A game. That is we better be hitting on all cylinders. Wood needs to get about 6 triples, most coming in transition or when the defense breaks down. Calvin needs about 4 blocks to go along with 10 plus rebounds and 20 plus points and no wild shots from 20 feet away. CJ and Johnson need to hit some threes to bring out the defense. Howell needs to not foul out and not let his screw ups carry forward to the next play. Painter needs to play within in himself. Lorenzo needs to play smart and not panic if it is close at the end. Some of the bench players need to step up. Then we have a chance.

  10. Wufpacker 12/13/2011 at 7:28 AM #

    ^ So….you’re saying there’s a chance…

  11. LRM 12/13/2011 at 10:15 AM #

    “The Cincinnati ‘example’ underscores that playing a team the exact week(s) in which the opponent is ranked #1 doesn’t mean much of anything other than providing a neat little statistic to discuss.”

    Another example is Gottfried’s #1 ranking at Alabama in 2002-03. It was for two weeks, in December; however, that team finished unranked at 17-12 (7-9).

  12. MP 12/13/2011 at 1:34 PM #

    Love those ESPN conference rankings – Herb is obviously coaching in his kind of ‘Power Conference’.

    The BC Interruption post is a good one. I wish we could have pulled out at least one more win, but the silver lining is that (so far) we haven’t lost to anyone with a lower power ranking than us.

  13. choppack1 12/13/2011 at 9:19 PM #

    Interesting looking at our RPI and Kenpom rating.

    I’m still trying to figure out how Clemson is so high in Kenpom – must be something deep w/in their numbers.

    It would be nice to shock the world and beat Syracuse…It would go a long way towards giving us something besides the old NIT vs. CBI tournament debate we’ve engaged in the last few years.

    Realtime is currently projecting an 8-8 ACC record – which would be an OK start for Gottfried – not great, but certainly pointing us in a better direction.

  14. 808WOLF 12/14/2011 at 1:12 AM #

    State will win this game. I will rush the court. That is all.

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