2006-07 Basketball Schedule Released

Here’s the link.

Of the 12 OOC games, you have 4 games against legitimate, major conference opponents (2005-06 Sagarin rankings in parentheses) – home vs. Michigan (32) and Alabama (40), away vs. West Virginia (18) and Cincy (33). That’s not too shabby, although one has to figure that West Virginia and Cincy will be appreciably worse in 2006-07. Then again, so will NC State. There is also a home game against UNC-Wilmington (42), which should be both interesting and potentially competitive. So, that’s 5 in the “good” category.

There are 2 other games against teams in the 100s – Delaware State (173) and Valparaiso (176). Of the 2, I would expect Valpo to be the more interesting opponent, given their history as a periodic mid-major “upstart.” I like playing a few games like that, since mid-majors can present a better challenge than cupcakes, while still likely resulting in a W. I am still intrigued by the idea of 3 rolling “2 for 1” series against quality mid-majors, but this is a decent start.

Last, here come the 5 pure cupcakes, all in the 200s (and frankly, Delaware State likely will belong in this category at season’s end) – Mount St. Mary’s (253), Wofford (259), Gardner-Webb (260), UNC-Greensboro (270), and bringing up the absolute rear, East Carolina (285). I guess Uncle Jed just can’t get enough of kissing the rear ends of the riot-prone folks from Greenville. We’ve also heard (to date, unsubstantiated) whispers that Fowler might have also agreed on a future freaking road game against the worst team on our schedule. That would be, frankly, the stupidest thing he has ever done, and that’s really saying something. The cupcakes on this list may be a little too sweet for my liking, as 5 teams deep into the 200s will likely drag down the non-conference SOS.

For those of you that like riots, ECU comes into town on December 28. At least you will have the holiday season as a legitimate excuse not to go. Fowler seems intent on turning our stadium and arena purple as often as possible, for no logical reason.

As far as the ACC slate goes, we don’t luck out with the weaklings – only 1 date with Miami. So, we will play the bullies (UNC, Duke) and the plankton (Miami, Wake) 3 times each – a truly balanced schedule. The Pack opens with games @UVA, home vs. BC and Clemson, then @Wake. All of these games are winnable, and if we are going to have a decent season, a 2-2 start seems absolutely essential. We get Duke and UNC in the next quadrant, so we don’t want to try playing catch-up in that stretch.

Strangely enough, we close the season at Maryland. Why, I have no idea. I guess nobody’s traditions are important other than those of UNC and Duke.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

06-07 Basketball General NCS Basketball Sidney Lowe

39 Responses to 2006-07 Basketball Schedule Released

  1. Trout 08/17/2006 at 4:10 PM #

    Highlight OOC games: Michigan, Alabama, @Cincy, @WVU (in Charleston)

    Interesting stretch between 12/28 and 1/2, are play ECU, UNC-W and UNC-G. If we make a bowl, attendance at those games will suffer, and those will be “Super Bowl” games for those 3 teams.

    We the first ACC opponent for UVA’s new John Paul Jones arena.

  2. Trout 08/17/2006 at 4:17 PM #

    ^ I really dont understand why the ACC couldnt protect NC State and Wake at the end of the season. I agree, “nobody’s traditions are important other than those of UNC and Duke..”

  3. BJD95 08/17/2006 at 4:20 PM #

    ^ or Virginia against Maryland, for that matter.

  4. thebigwood 08/17/2006 at 4:21 PM #

    we lost the one and one with Duke, and now we don’t even have our end of the season rivalry with Wake, kind of lame

  5. old13 08/17/2006 at 4:26 PM #

    The biggest drag on NCSU athletics is Foulup – he needs to go NOW!

  6. packpigskinfan23 08/17/2006 at 4:26 PM #

    Duke and UNC are all the acc and media care about…..

    as for the schedule… I cant complain. as long as we dont have to go to Greenville I am fine with playing ECU. I have a lot of friends who attend the school. Some of their fans arent all that bad….. as for the rest…. screw em.

  7. old13 08/17/2006 at 4:30 PM #

    Now if only GoPack could figure out who the NCSU BB players and coaches are and post them on the new (and certainly wonderful [not]) site!

  8. ShootingGuard 08/17/2006 at 4:34 PM #

    Sadly, this is the best of Herb and Lee’s scheduling…However, I probably would have taken one of Herb and Lee’s joke schedules this year as we are too depleted to run and gun while, at the same time, Grant and Gavin aren’t geared for a slow down, keep it close, try to win it in the end game…Anyone with any depth is going to try to wear us down and foul us out so Trevor and Big Lew can play…Oh well, Rome wasn’t built back in a day…(But it shouldn’t take 10 years either…)

  9. nycfan 08/17/2006 at 4:56 PM #

    Season-Ending Match-Ups
    BC @ GA Tech
    Clemson @ VPI
    Dook @ UNC
    FSU @ Miami
    NCSU @ UMd
    UVa @ WFU
    *************

    I’m scratching my head. I understand some juggling was necessitated by expansion; I have heard that the conference bent over backward to make UVa’s schedule work well with their new arena; I’ve heard that there was pressure not to have expansion teams playing each other in the end; but why not protect WFU v. State to finish, as well as UVa v. VPI, UMd v. BC and Clemson v. GA Tech?

    In any event, this is the most interesting (IMO) OOC schedule for State in a while; last year was better than usual and this is better than that. What became of the postponed/not postponed Seton Hall game?

  10. class of 74 08/17/2006 at 5:34 PM #

    Anyone who says expansion did not hurt the ACC needs to look at the basketball schedule. Very, very sad.

  11. Champs 08/17/2006 at 5:34 PM #

    If we return to ECU what’s to keep all the other bottom feeders from demanding a return game? What will be our defense for not returning a UNC-W or UNC-G?

  12. choppack1 08/17/2006 at 5:35 PM #

    “So, we will play the bullies (UNC, Duke) and the plankton (Miami, Wake) 3 times each – a truly balanced schedule. ”

    Ok = I’m confused about this. Do we play them 3 times or twice?

  13. joe 08/17/2006 at 5:43 PM #

    A few years back ECU played NCSU in the title game of one of those BCA tourneys and ECU had very few fans there. They simply don’t care about BB so I think there isn’t much need to worry about fan problems.

    UNC-C had a decent showing of fans for their RBC Center game where they blew the pack out.

  14. nycfan 08/17/2006 at 5:47 PM #

    Not to inflame this end-of-season scheduling any more, but on a hunch I wondered if the scrambling of the expansion team end of season match-ups, combined with who was due a home or away game, might have made the State/Wake break-up necessary.

    Strangely, of the 8 teams involved in the swaps, three who played on the road to end the season last year got home games (as it should be this year) and three who played on at home got road games (as it should be) — the exceptions? State and Wake. The Pack was on the only conference team who will play on the road to end the season last season AND this season; WFU is the only team that will play at home to end last season AND this season.

    Five minutes of work made it seem that better end of season match-ups would have been BC @ UMd, Clemson @ Tech, UVa @ VPI and WFU @ NCSU. The problem? BC only plays Maryland once (at home, in December no less), so no dice there. So swap Clemson and BC to end the season? Works, but I suspect TV had no interest in Clemson @ UMd.

    Add to that UVa wanted VPI or UMd to be their last home game, so UVa @ VPI did not work b/c it is in the wrong venue (VPI is in fact the last home game for the Hoos), so that game didn’t work. So why not UVa @ UMd, BC @ Ga Tech, Clemson @ VPI, WFU @ NCSU? I couldn’t tell you.

    The BC/Ga Tech and Clemson/VPI games are in fact what is being played, so why scramble the WFU/NCSU and UVa/UMd games?

    Apparently b/c the conference plans to continuously scramble the end of season match-ups (except Dook/UNC and perhaps FSU/Miami) each season.

    But, if you just *have* to scramble end of season match-ups, why not at least make it UVa @ NCSU and WFU @ UMd, so everyone reverses the home/away final game trend from last year? My best guess is b/c UVa only plays NCSU ONCE and WFU only plays UMd ONCE and I can see how coaches would object to playing a conference foe for the first time in your last game of the season, though that might create its own intrigue, IMO.

    Thus the blender of all those items ended in the schedule we now have.

  15. joe 08/17/2006 at 5:52 PM #

    Don’t forget the ACC has rules about the schedules that come into play as well – for example no team is allowed to play more than 3 straight conference games at home or on the road.

    The TV networks would throw a fit if they could not show UNC/Duke to end the season so you might as well carve that game into stone.

  16. rky 08/17/2006 at 6:02 PM #

    I remember as a very young Wolfpacker going to the end of regular season games versus Wake with my dad. That was one game we ALWAYS made sure to attend. In the years since, as the season draws to an end, I look forward to the game against Wake with fond memories. As many previous posts point out . . . it’s a shame no thought was given to tradition.

  17. Delete-Me 08/17/2006 at 6:10 PM #

    Looks like more games being shown on ESPNU, TWC better be adding that channel soon.

    Actually it doesn’t matter, I’ve got tickets.

  18. StateFans 08/17/2006 at 7:32 PM #

    NCSU @ UMd
    UVa @ WFU

    To end the season? Absurd.

  19. Astral Rain 08/17/2006 at 8:01 PM #

    At least State has some history with UMD. I can think of worse choices for a last game. Actually, they’d be my 4th choice for the final game behind UNC,Duke, and Wake.

  20. Wulfpack 08/17/2006 at 8:28 PM #

    NC State’s marquee OOC games:

    Michigan (32) – ACC/Big 10
    Alabama (40)
    West Virginia (18)
    Cincy (33)
    UNCW (42)

    UNC’s marquee OOC games:

    Ohio State (17) – ACC/Big 10
    Kentucky (25)
    Arizona (30)

    *It should be noted that the Heels also have the potential to play Butler (82), Colorado State (132), Gonzaga (16), Indiana (31), UNCW (42), Notre Dame (44), Tennessee (19) and Winthrop (67) in the semi-finals and/or finals of the NIT Tip-Off.

    Duke’s marquee OOC games:

    Indiana (31) – ACC/Big 10
    Davidson (124)
    Georgetown (10)
    Holy Cross (122)
    George Mason (15)
    Kent State (65)
    Gonzaga (16)
    Temple (70)
    St. John’s (111)

    *It should be noted that the Devils also have the potential to play Texas Tech (113), Marquette (35) and Stanford (69) in the semi-finals and/or finals of the College Basketball Experience Classic.

    My thought is we have a decent OOC, though WVU and Cincy, as stated, will be down. I really like our match-up with Bama. UNCW will be very dangerous. They are an extremely disciplined team that had a 20+ lead on GW in the NCAA Tourney. The Seahawks did lose some key guys though.

    UNC and Duke obviously have very strong OOC’s — expectedly, they’re going to be on the tube an awful lot.

  21. class of 74 08/18/2006 at 6:17 AM #

    Who would have ever thought UNC-W would be a marquee game for an ACC school.

  22. 83 Pack Grad 08/18/2006 at 8:58 AM #

    I have to stand up a little bit for Pirate fans. A much as we often feel slighted by all the attention showered on Chapel Hill, think how they must feel. They even play second fiddle to Wake Forest, even though ECU might be a better candidate for ACC membership today if teh conference were being newly formed. If we feel like the Red Sox compared to Carolina’s Yankees (a very apt comparison, imho), then ECU must feel like teh Minnesota Twins. Though disgusted by their riotous tirade, State-ECU contests have provided many memorable moments in Wolfpack football. I agree that we should NEVER agree to play an away game in Greenville in basketball or football (even though that cat is out of the bag). A breather agianst ECU on this year’s schedule might be a welcome respite for Sid’s talented but very thin team. All that being said, I love being able to lord State’s dominance of the Pirates over my ECU friends (including my boss) and I am looking forward to a FB-BB sweep this year.

  23. cfpack03 08/18/2006 at 9:27 AM #

    My only complaint is that we don’t play Wake as a closer. I too have fond memories of that match-up, the L to WFU at home in 2003 was the first game my soon-to-be-wife and I went to together… I’d love for some kind of explanation at least.
    The OCC scheduling looks the best its been in a while. Some teams may be on a down year, but then again, so are we.

  24. Trout 08/18/2006 at 9:33 AM #

    We should play Wake for our season ending game. Period.

    I’m hearing NC State has agreed to 3 game series with both Valpo and ECU. 2 home/1 away.

  25. cfpack03 08/18/2006 at 9:34 AM #

    ^ I have to stand up a little bit for Pirate fans….. I am looking forward to a FB-BB sweep this year.
    The Minn Twins are actually decent so I don’t see that as an apt comparision. A Cubs comparison works better, they’re in a lower league (a jab at the NL), they’re consistently bad, and you expect a W against them every game, and we all know people who are fans. Anyway, ECU is no match and never should be a match for NC State. It might be fun to play them b/c we can talk junk to friends, but really there;s no gain from playing them.

Leave a Reply