NC State is a #7 Seed in the 2026 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament

NC State is the #7 seed in the 2026 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament, and their first game will be Wednesday at noon against the winner of #10 Stanford vs #15 Pitt.

This past Saturday, the Wolfpack lost 85-84 to Stanford at home in the regular season finale. Earlier this season, on January 24th, NC State defeated the Pitt Panthers 81-72 on the road.

The Cardinal finished the regular season on a four-game winning streak, which began with a 75-67 win over Pitt at home. Both KenPom and Bart Torvik project Stanford to defeat the Panthers by four points in Tuesday’s opening-round matchup.

Obviously, the Wolfpack struggled against Stanford on Saturday, but it was still just a one-point loss. NC State certainly has a good chance to pick up a win against the Cardinal in the second round of the ACC Tournament, which would give the Pack 20 overall wins on the season.

Unfortunately, if NC State were to beat Stanford (or Pitt), #2 seed Virginia is looming in the quarterfinals.

The Wolfpack had no answer for the Cavaliers in their first two matchups this season, losing by an average of 22 points. In my gut, I just don’t think this NC State roster matches up well against Virginia. Wolfpack head coach Will Wade said after the last loss that his team could probably beat the Cavaliers maybe once in ten chances.

Could that unlikely victory over Virginia happen this week in Charlotte?

It is hard to beat a team three times in a row.

I guess NC State has that going in its favor.