State has a big one tonight at Miami (8pm on WRAL in Raleigh)!
NC State sits #38 in the RPI having played 6th toughest schedule in America. A ROAD win @ #57 Miami would be a huge resume boost! #NCAAT
— statefansnation (@statefansnation) January 22, 2015
A win tonight would propel the Pack to 5-2 in the ACC and re-set the team with the opportunity to play for seeding in the NCAA tournament (and ACC tournament). I loss obviously wouldn’t be crushing…but, it would serve to slide State much closer to having to endure more ‘bubble talk’ as we start to turn the page to February.
Miami started the season 8-0 and climbed as high as #15 in the polls before hitting some very inconsistent play that included a blowout loss to Eastern Kentucky and Green Bay. The Hurricanes seem to have found themselves and are playing great defense. Heck, they forced UVA into two overtimes after trailing by 18 points in the game. Obviously, they put the wood to Duke in Cameron…so, we know they can play lights out — especially with their strong guard play which State is going to need to neutralize by getting more out of Cat Barber than we have consistently gotten to this point in the season.
Gottfried’s Wolfpack is 4.5 point underdog tonight, which seems just a little high. In fact, the ACC Sports Journal just released some commentary about their ACC Power Rankings that support how close State and Miami are projected:
—-NC State, Miami, Clemson, and Syracuse are generally ranked between No. 6 and No. 9 in our listings, though Moore moved Pitt up to No. 9, with Clemson falling to No. 11. Miami comes in No. 6 on two lists (Powell, Moore), while NC State finds the No. 6 spot on the other two (Carroll, Krest). Two reporters list Syracuse No. 8 (Krest and Moore), while Powell moved Clemson to the No. 8 spot and placed Syracuse at No. 9 following the Tigers’ double-digit home victory over the Orange.
If State and Miami aren’t currently close enough for you, then the Pack’s opponent on Sunday (Notre Dame) can’t get much closer in the RPI:
ACC in the RPI pic.twitter.com/ZUgbYDn46M
— Joe Giglio (@jwgiglio) January 22, 2015
[11:30am Update] The N&O shares more about this key stretch in the schedule for NC State basketball.
N.C. State (13-6, 4-2 ACC) figures to be jockeying for ACC and NCAA position with Miami (12-5, 2-2), No. 55 in the RPI (ratings percentage index), and Notre Dame, No. 39 in the RPI. Those are the next two teams on the Wolfpack’s schedule. The Fighting Irish (17-2, 5-1 ACC) come to Raleigh on Sunday.
The Wolfpack had to scramble last season to get into the NCAA tournament. Gottfried’s fourth team is ahead of schedule this season but it still has plenty of work to do.
N.C. State visits Miami ranked No. 37 in the RPI. The Wolfpack is 2-5 vs. the top 50 of the RPI and 6-5 against the top 100.
Those top 50 and top 100 wins are better at this point in the season than Gottfried’s first team in 2011-12, which was a No. 11 seed, and last year’s team, which was a No. 12 seed and had to play in the First Four.
Miami and Notre Dame don’t have the tradition of Duke or UNC, or same history with N.C. State, Gottfried has stressed their value to his players. Coming off the Virginia-Duke-UNC stretch, that won’t be easy.
“We’ve had a tough emotional couple of weeks but everybody does,” Gottfried said. “We don’t need to be whining about it or make excuses about it.”
