Gameday: NC State Needs Focus vs Virginia Tech

NC State vs Virginia Tech
6pm | Raleigh, NC | ESPN2

Coming off a season saving victory over Louisville, NC State now must keep it rolling against Virginia Tech. Let’s be real here, history tells us that NC State is going to come off this big win with a lackluster performance that leaves fans scratching their heads and calculating if there is still anyway to squeak into the tournament. While any State fan knows this is still a possibility, we don’t believe it’s going to go down this way. Let us tell you why:

It’s a home game…
State hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire in front of their home crowd, but against a Virginia Tech team that is 2nd to last in the ACC and the team coming off such a huge win, the fans are smelling the post season and will help them power through.

A week off…
Don’t underestimate the importance of a week off this late in the season. Small injuries have chances to heal, mental fatigue washes away, and you have a ton of time to game plan. State’s week off gives them the opportunity to realize the implications of this game. It gives them a week to plan for Virginia Tech and week for Gottfried to beat into their heads that any bad loss that this point could derail their entire season.

Lessons have been learned….
This State team is still relatively young, but they’ve learned enough lessons to last them a lifetime. They’ve blown big leads, they overcome big deficits, they’ve knocked off giants and lost to some bottom feeders. At this point this team has seen it all and that’s going to go a long way in getting them where they need to go. After the win over Louisville the locker room wasn’t a party, it seemed like a group that is used to closing. Hopefully that all business mentality can roll over to the game tonight.

Virginia Tech Reeling…
This team has problems. They don’t defend well, they don’t have any prolific scorers and they are weak on the boards. All that equates to a team that has lost 12 of their last 14 games (both at home). If State has any focus at all, they should roll.