NC State Basketball
On April 4th, 1983, NC State won their 2nd National Championship
On this day, April 4th, back in 1983, NC State pulled off the ultimate Cinderella story, beating Houston 54-52 to win the 2nd National Championship in school history.
The Wolfpack finished the regular season with a pedestrian record of 17-10, and entered the ACC Tournament unranked.
As the #4 seed in the ACC Tournament, they beat the #5 seed Wake Forest 71-70 in the 1st round. In the 2nd round, they pulled off a major upset of the #1 seed UNC, who was also ranked 5th nationally, beating the Tar Heels 91-84 in overtime. In the ACC championship game, the Wolfpack beat the #2 seed UVA, who was ranked 2nd nationaly, 81-78, to hang an ACC another title banner in Reynolds, and give them an invitation to the NCAA tournament that they wouldn’t have received otherwise.
The Wolfpack then entered the Big Dance ranked 16th nationally, and as a #6 seed in the West. They took care of business, beating #11 seed Pepperdine 69-67 in the 1st round. In the 2nd round, NC State pulled off their first upset in the tourney, defeating the #3 seed UNLV 71-70. The Rebels were ranked 6th nationally.
In the Sweet 16, the Wolfpack once again took care of business, crushing the #10 seed Utah 75-56. In the Elite 8, for the second time in a 2-week span, NC State upset UVA, beating the #1 seed Cavaliers (ranked 4th nationally) 63-62.
In the Final 4, they beat the #4 seed Georgia 67-60. Even though the Bulldogs were a higher seed in the tournament, they entered the dance ranked 18th nationally. Georgia upset the #2 seed in the East, UNC, to make it to the Final 4.
In the championship game, the Wolfpack did the unthinkable, beating Houston 54-52, the #1 overall seed in the tournament.
I don’t care how many times you’ve seen this before, but it never gets old.
On this day in 1983, @PackMensBball won its second national championship!
Where were you when this happened, #WPN? Tell us in the mentions! #GoPack #ncsu pic.twitter.com/b8V8JJj6AH
— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) April 4, 2018
NC State is still one of only 15 men’s college basketball programs to have won multiple NCAA championships.
I recall screaming at the TV, “Did it count???” (worried that they clock might have expired.) Then realizing it was good, freaking out, hugging my family, and heading for Hillsborough.