NC State now controls destiny. Win out, finish 3rd in ACC

With Duke’s last-second loss to Virginia Tech, NC State is in a position to control their destiny.

Duke is sitting at 12-5 after their loss. They have one game left and it’s vs UNC.

UNC is sitting one game ahead of NC State at 11-5. They have 2 games left. Tomorrow night vs. Miami and then Saturday vs. Duke.

The big boon for State is that UNC has to play Duke and no matter what happens, if NC State wins their next two games, they will finish 3rd in the ACC.

Let’s see how…

If Duke beats UNC…
With the loss, UNC would be able to finish the season with no more than 12 wins. If NC State wins out, they too would have 12 wins. NC State wins the tie-breaker with UNC because of their 1-0 record (100% winning percentage) over Duke.

If UNC beats Duke…
This would mean that Duke would have lost out and finished at 12-6. With NC State also at 12-6 (in this scenario) the Pack would win the tie-breaker with Duke because they beat them the one time they played them this season.

Yes folks, it’s true.

If NC State wins out, Keatts will have done the unthinkable. Taken a team picked to finish 13th in the ACC and finished above either UNC or Duke in the ACC standings.

Don’t believe we did our math correctly? We confirmed with the master of the tie-breaker…N&O’s Joe Giglio.

Correct 12-6 State is the No. 3 seed

— Joe Giglio (@jwgiglio) February 27, 2018