The Athletic Believes NC State is 1 of 6 2024 Surprise College Football Playoff Contenders

The Athletic released a piece this morning unpacking 6 teams that they believe are Surprise College Football Playoff Contenders heading into the 2024 season, and NC State was 1 of the 6, along with Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, UTSA and Fresno State.

Here’s how Antonio Morales of The Athletic explained why he believes the Wolfpack are a “Surprise CFP Contender”:

ACC: NC State

The Wolfpack, who are ranked 24th in the AP preseason poll, have won nine games in four of the past seven seasons but have never truly broken through under coach Dave Doeren. Could this be the year?

The defense does have some holes to fill after losing star linebacker and Bednarik Award winner Payton Wilson to the NFL. But NC State has upgraded at quarterback with the addition of Coastal Carolina transfer Grayson McCall and has playmakers around him like receiver Kevin Concepcion, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, and Duke transfer Jordan Waters at running back.

Most importantly, the schedule is set up nicely. Some might be deterred because there’s a nonconference game against Tennessee (in Charlotte) and a road game at Clemson in the first month of the season. But the toughest game after that might be at Georgia Tech or at North Carolina in the final weeks of the season.

Here are the teams the Wolfpack will miss in conference play and where those teams are projected in the ACC preseason poll: Florida State (first), Miami (third), Louisville (fifth), Virginia Tech (sixth) and SMU (seventh).

Aside from Tennessee, the nonconference slate consists of home games against Western Carolina, Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois. After NC State faces Clemson on the road on Sept. 21, the rest of its schedule is Northern Illinois, Wake Forest, Syracuse, at Cal, Stanford and Duke before road games against Georgia Tech and North Carolina to end the regular season.

The Wolfpack can’t ask for much more.

(The Athletic)