GREENSBORO, N.C. – Coming off its second Sweet 16 run under Mark Gottfried, the NC State men’s basketball team will tackle a challenging 2015-16 slate that includes local rivals Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill as well as Louisville to highlight an 18-game ACC schedule.
The Wolfpack will play permanent home-and-home partners UNC-CH and Wake Forest twice in addition to this season’s partners Duke and Florida State.
“Like everybody in our league, we have a difficult conference schedule,” head coach Mark Gottfried said. “We play Duke and North Carolina twice, Florida State has five starters back. And Wake Forest is a good rivalry game for us.
“When you look past that, we go to Virginia, Syracuse, Pitt and Notre Dame. Now our schedule becomes one of the most difficult schedule of the 15 teams in the league.”
After opening ACC play Saturday, Jan. 2 at Virginia Tech, NC State welcomes Louisville to PNC Arena Thursday, Jan. 7. Duke comes to PNC Arena Saturday, Jan. 23 in a game that will be carried on CBS. Other home games in January include Florida State, Georgia Tech and Miami.
The Pack opens the month of February at Florida State before a tilt at Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday, Feb. 6. UNC-Chapel Hill visits NC State Wednesday, Feb. 24. Other February home contests are against Wake Forest and Clemson. Additionally, NC State will make its first ESPN Big Monday appearance when it plays at Virginia Monday, Feb. 15. State closes the month in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse, the site of last year’s Sweet 16 appearance.
A home game vs. Boston College and a CBS appearance at Notre Dame wrap up the regular season in early March. The 2016 ACC Tournament will be at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The Wolfpack has won at least one conference tourney game in each of Gottfried’s four seasons.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to be in the NCAA Tournament and have a high seed so we can have an opportunity to advance. If that means we have to play more games against the top teams, I’m all for it,” Gottfried said. “Sometimes your record isn’t as glamorous, but our goal is to be the best team we can be and have a chance to play for a national championship.”
In all, NC State will play 18 home games, a regular season tournament in Brooklyn and 16 contests against 12 teams that played in the 2015 college basketball postseason. For a breakdown of the non-ACC portion of the schedule, CLICK HERE.
Additional tip-off times and television information will be announced when final. For the complete composite ACC schedule, CLICK HERE.