NC State Football Finishes the 2024 Regular Season Ranked 12th in the ACC

NC State’s Football team finished with a 3-5 record in conference play, which landed them in 12th place in the ACC at the end of the regular season.

1. SMU (8-0)
2. Clemson (7-1)
3. Miami (6-2)
4. Syracuse (5-3)
5. Georgia Tech (5-3)
6. Louisville (5-3)
7. Duke (5-3)
8. Virginia Tech (4-4)
9. Boston College (4-4)
10. Pitt (3-5)
11. UNC (3-5)
12. NC State (3-5)
13. Virginia (3-5)
14. Cal (2-6)
15. Wake Forest (2-6)
16. Stanford (2-6)
17. Florida State (1-7)

If you’re curious how the tie breakers workout that land NC State in 12th, here you go.

For a reminder, NC State was picked to finish 4th in the 2024 Preseason Poll.

There’s no denying that the 2024 season was disappointing and underwhelming. The Wolfpack was ranked 24th in the AP Preseason Poll. They were picked to finish 4th in the ACC, and received 8 first place votes. People were speculating that NC State might be a College Football Playoff dark horse.

With that being said, no one expected for Grayson McCall to suffer two concussions, and retire from football. No one expected the success of this season to lie on the shoulders of CJ Bailey, an 18-year old True Freshman.

If I’m honest, I don’t think most NC State fans tempered their expectations after McCall was lost for the year, and I think part of that was because Bailey had shown glimpses of brilliance.

The reality is, excuses can be made, but let’s call a spade a spade. The 2024 season didn’t go according to plan.

I know NC State fans often don’t want to be hyped up, or receive preseason rankings, as if it’s some sort of curse. I’ve been a Wolfpack fan my whole life. It’s not as if our superstition doesn’t have any merit.

NC State has been ranked in the AP Preseason Poll 8 times in school history, and in 6 of those seasons, the Wolfpack didn’t finish the season ranked. The two seasons that NC State started and finished the season ranked?

1973 & 1974.

Here’s the deal. I don’t want to be a superstitious fan. I don’t want to always act like NC State can only succeed with a chip on their shoulder.

Here’s to NC State starting the season with hype, and finishing the season with hype in the future.