We had irrationally high hopes that somehow, someway, someone would stop through Raleigh to play the Pack on Senior Day and close out the regular season.
It didn’t happen.
A mix of travel issues, concerns over health heading into postseason play, games previously scheduled and (how awesome is this) State’s hot play of late, made it nearly impossible for an outside opponent to step up. Big 12 was an option since they have a break before their tournament. There were thoughts of ACC foes being rearranged to provide a make-up game. The effort from State authorities and Keatts provided no answers.
So where do we go from here?
Bad News
Bad news is this was a prime opportunity to add a great resume game for the Pack. With the hope they can make it a few rounds in the ACCT, the streak to end the season may have perked the interest of the committee to give them a chance in a play-in game, floating around an 11th seed. This cancellation marks a string of ranked opponents that State has been unable to go up against. A win or two could have put the Pack easily over the bubble threshold. Instead, they’ll stand put until Tuesday.
Good News
Unless some craziness happens, State will have to make the five games in five days fight. Assuming they sit at 10th seed, the string of games isn’t the worst situation to be in. First they’d go against bottom of standings Miami (winnable), before facing off against UNC (also, *knocks on wood* winnable), before a matchup against Virginia (hellllloooo, also *knocks on wood* winnable). The only way State makes the tournament is to win baby, win. So with no chance to move up, they actually provide themselves an added game to get the job done.
We’ll have a more in-depth look at State’s path to the NCAA Tournament, later today.