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The full NC State Men’s Basketball 2015-16 schedule was released, and Shantel Jordan sat down with head coach Mark Gottfried to get him to breakdown the schedule. Watch the video below, or read the transcript underneath it.

Transcript

On how the non-conference games are scheduled…

“We try to every year to make sure that our schedule is going to be as competitive as possible.  We’re always going to play some teams from the other BCS conferences.  It’s good for us.  It’s exciting for our fans.  Then we also try to find those teams that aren’t in the BCS conferences who are going to have great records and great teams.  We go back and look over a 5-year period, and look at their average RPI, which players they are returning, and how strong they’re going to be.  We actually are trying to find those teams that are going to be very good, who might be 20-25 game type winning teams.  There’s a lot that goes into it, but at the end of the day, I think we’ve put together another schedule that is going to give us one of the more competitive schedules in the country.”

On playing Arizona St…

“I think it’s going to be exciting.  A lot of our fans remember Levi (Watkins), and he was with me for two years on my staff here.  He probably knows us, and knows what we do better than anybody.  I’ve actually laughed with him about the fact that he’s going to do a pretty good job with the scouting report.  They’re going to be a good team for us to play out of the Pac 12.  With the other two teams, Marquette and LSU, you have two talented really good teams.  It is a great tournament of us to be a part of, and getting to go to New York City, and play in the Barclays Arena where the Nets play in the NBA.  I think it’s going to be a fun couple of days.”

On the chance of a rematch with LSU…

“LSU lost the two big guys inside.  Both guys got drafted pretty high in the NBA draft.  The perimeter is going to mostly be the returning players.  Their guys around the basket now are different.  Ben Simmons, if he could have entered the NBA out of high school, I do believe would have been the #1 pick out of high school.  Extremely talented player.  If we end up playing them, we will be playing a talented team in LSU.”

On the ACC slate…

“I think with our schedule in the league, like everyone in our league, it’s a difficult schedule.  When you look at the way ours shook out, we’ve got UNC twice, Duke twice, Florida St. twice, who I think is going to be really good this year.  They’ve got all 5 starters back.  We play Wake Forest twice, which is a good rivalry game for us.  Then when you look past that, you see that we have to go on the road to Syracuse, to Notre Dame, to Virginia.  Now our schedule becomes one of the most difficult of the 15 teams in the league.  Sometimes if you have three in a row here, or two in a row there, sometimes you don’t know exactly how that’s going to play out.  Maybe you’re on a roll playing well, or maybe you’re not playing so well.  One thing different this year, than in years past, is that we only have one BYE in the schedule.  Last year we had two BYES, with two breaks in the schedule.  That will be a little bit different for us this year.  We won’t have that opportunity to get regrouped like we did a year ago.”

On the road challenges in league play…

“I think if you’re going to be a good team, a team that gets to play in the NCAA tournament, you have to be good at home and on the road.  We’ve been fortunate over the past couple of years to have some great road wins.  Last year specifically at Louisville, at North Carolina, those were big games for us.  We’ll see how it works out.  Every team is different.  Every team has to develop it’s own identity and ability to go on the road and win in a tough environment.”

On playing the top teams in the country…

“I like playing the tough teams in the ACC.  Sometimes there is a part of you that wishes your schedule was a little bit easier.   On the other hand, when you play a majority of the teams that are going to be towards the top of the conference, it makes the schedule harder, and also gives you the opportunity to beat good teams, and help our overall RPI.  At the end of the day, the goal is to be in the NCAA tournament, and eventually have a good high seed, and a good opportunity to advance.  If that means we have to play more games against the top half of the ACC, then I’m all for it.  At the end of the day, our goal is to be the best team we can be, get in the NCAA tournament, and have a chance to play for an NCAA championship.”

Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Basketball

An NC State Win Over Marquette in the Sweet 16 Would Be…

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Awesome. Obviously.

#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette tomorrow night in the Sweet 16. What would a win mean for the Wolfpack? Many things, but here’s just a few:

It would give NC State 25 wins on the year (25-14), which would be the most wins since 1982-83, when the Wolfpack went 26-10, winning the National Championship.

It would mark the 12th time in school history that NC State has won 25+ games in a single season.

1982-83 – 26-10 

1973-74 – 30-1 

1972-73 – 27-0 

1954-55 – 28-4 

1953-54 – 26-7

1952-53 – 26-6 

1950-51 – 30-7 

1949-50 – 27-6 

1948-49 – 25-8 

1947-48 – 29-3

1946-47- 26-5

It would be the 7th time NC State has advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.

1950

1951

1974

1983

1985

1986

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NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

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NC State has won 5 ACC Championships this year, which is the most of any athletic program in the conference this year.

The Wolfpack has won ACC Titles in Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Men’s Basketball and Gymnastics.

The last time NC State won 5 ACC Championships in one year was 1979-80.

As far as I can tell, here’s a look at the Wolfpack Conference Titles from 1979-80:

Football
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Men’s Tennis

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NC State Basketball

NC State is 1 of 4 Schools to Have Both Men & Women’s Basketball Teams in Sweet 16

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NC State is 1 of 4 schools to have their Men and Women’s Basketball teams BOTH advance to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, Gonzaga and UCONN.

NC State and Duke are the only two schools in the country to send both Basketball teams to the Sweet 16, and also send the Football team to a bowl game.

This marks only the third time in school history that BOTH teams made the Sweet 16.

Years NC State’s Men & Women’s Teams Made the Sweet 16

1985
1989
2024

Despite the fact that the Men’s team has made the Elite 8 six times (1950, 1951, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986), and the Women have made it 2 times (1998 & 2022), in the three occasions they both went to the Sweet 16 in the same year, neither team advanced to the Elite 8.

In 2024, Why Not Us?

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NC State Basketball

#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

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#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

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