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ESPN’s David Hale continually feeds my cravings for statistical data.  Yesterday he tweeted out this table that ranks the ACC on how well they have won conference games on the road over the past three seasons.

Over the past three seasons, NC State has gone 3-9 on the road in conference play, which ranks 10th in the ACC.  The 2013 season was Dave Doeren’s first season at NC state, in which he won 0 ACC games, home or away.  Last season, Doeren went 2-2 on the road in conference play, which is a step in the right direction.

But NC State’s conference road woe’s don’t just go back three years.  While Tom O’Brien was the head coach at NC State (2007-12), the Wolfpack went 7-17 on the road in conference play.  That’s a 41% winning percentage.

NC State has a tough road every year in the Atlantic Division of making it to the top spot.  Yes, they do have to play Florida St. and Clemson every year.  The Wolfpack have bigger issues though than these two teams.  They have to beat their other ACC opponents on the road if they ever want to compete with the boys at the top.

Over the past two coaching tenures (07-12 O’Brien, 13-14 Doeren), NC State’s average finish in the Atlantic division has been 5th place (4.75 to be exact).

If you look at the leaders of conference road wins on Hale’s chart, they also happen to be the teams that have finished at the top of their respective divisions the past three years.  Florida St. has won the Atlantic the past three years, and Clemson has finished 2nd three years in a row as well.  Georgia Tech has won the Coastal 2 out of the last three years, and Duke won it the other year,  and also finished 2nd one of the other years.

NC State plays Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College, and Florida St. on the road this season.  If the Wolfpack wants a chance to surprise everyone in the Atlantic division as a dark horse, they need to improve on their 2-2 conference road record last season, to at least a 3-1 record this fall.

 

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