Friday was a very good day for NC State’s hopes to reach the the Wolfpack’s third consecutive NCAA Tournament. State’s big victory over Syracuse coupled with the impact of Pittburgh’s win over UNC-CHeats hsa served to make up significant room in the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). As of 11:08pm, Live-RPI.com projects NC State to be sitting right outside of the Top 50 around #52.
Additionally, some other ‘bubble teams’ lost in some very ugly fashion tonight – inlcuding Minnesota (lost by 26 to Wisconsin) and Missouri (lost by 23 to Florida).
Now that the ACC officials have done their part to insure that Duke is going to advance to play State on Saturday in the ACC Tournament, all of the fly by night know it alls are going to talk about how NC State ‘must win’ on Saturday to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Well, that might end up being true. But, it isn’t necessarily a fact. NC State’s RPI will probably rise just for playing (currently #7) Duke, regardless of win or loss. Where it will end nobody knows. But, take a look at historical data regarding Top 50 teams from the ACC and let’s get a feel for how that should shake out.
