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NC State Ranks 8th in Director’s Cup Fall Standings
The Director’s Cup Standings have been updated with Women’s Volleyball, and NC State now sits in 8th place. Last season, the Wolfpack Women’s Volleyball team didn’t accumulate any points, but this year they finished 17th, and gave NC State 50 points.
Last season NC State sat in 12th place in the Director’s Cup at the end of the Fall period, with 241 points.
NC State’s current 252.5 points marks the most points that the school has ever accumulated in a Fall Period in the Director’s Cup, which has been around since 1993, and Football isn’t even included in this number yet.
2017-18: 8th
2016-17: 12th
2015-16: 35th
2014-15: 42nd
2013-14: 86th
2012-13: 41st
2011-12: 38th
2010-11: 52nd
2009-10: 85th (Year Before Yow Arrived)
The Wolfpack is also the highest ranked ACC team in these standings.
Don’t just click on to the next destination. Stop and process this.
NC State has had the best Fall at least since 1993, and it might be the best Fall in a much longer time period, but the Director’s Cup didn’t exist before then.
NC State’s Women’s Cross Country team had another great year, winning their 23rd ACC championship. They also finished in the Top-10 nationally for the 3rd straight year.
The Men’s Cross Country Team finished with 5 more points this year. They finished 17th nationally, which is their highest finish since 2011.
The Women’s Soccer team arguably had their best season since 1995. They finished 3rd in the ACC in the regular season, and advanced to the ACC Championship seminfinal for the 1st time since 1995. The Wolfpack advanced to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament, and notched wins, marking the most wins since 1995. Their final ranking of 23rd in the RPI is the highest they’ve ever finished (started the poll in 2000.
Last year Men’s Soccer didn’t place high enough to record a single point, but this year they notched 25. The team qualified for its first NCAA Championship since 2009 and hosted the first ACC Championship first-round match at Dail Soccer Stadium in program history. Despite a preseason prediction of 11th, the Wolfpack tied for seventh in the ACC standings and knocked off two top-five teams throughout the year.
The NC State Women’s Volleyball team won 15 ACC matches, a program record. They also won their first NCAA tournament match in program history, and went back to the tourney for the first time since 2012.
We will have to see where the Wolfpack football team lands after the bowl game, but if they win, they will finish in the Top 25 for the first time since 2002.
After losing to rivals UNC and Duke last week, the NC State Women’s Basketball team fell out of the Top-10 in the Week 17 AP Poll, landing at #12. NC State started the 2023-24 season unranked, but jumped to #14 in the first Poll after the Preseason Poll. The Wolfpack have been ranked in the Top-10 since November 20th, which equals 14 straight polls.
ACC Teams in the Top-25
5. Virginia Tech
12. NC State
17. Notre Dame
19. Syracuse
22. Louisville
27. Duke
29. UNC
30. FSU
The Wolfpack will host #19 Syracuse on Thursday night at 7pm.
NC State will kick off their 2023 Football season next Thursday night against UCONN at 7:30pm. The Wolfpack released their Depth Chart for the game today.
Notes
- Redshirt Sophomore Anthony Carter Jr. is listed as the starting Left Guard. If Redshirt Sophomore Lyndon Cooper wasn’t missing the first game due to injury, I wonder if Carter would be starting. Doeren did praise Carter in his press conference today. Also, he stated that Cooper should be back for the Notre Dame game.
- Noticeably, Graduate Transfer Offensive Lineman Dawson Jaramillo is also missing from the Depth Chart. Unfortunately, Jaramillo has suffered an injury, and will miss the entirety of the 2023 season. This is a huge blow for Jaramillo, and a huge blow for the depth of the Wolfpack Offensive Line. Jaramillo was a Swiss Army knife, having the ability to play in numerous positions.
- Very often, Doeren has stated that the “Or” in between two names means that the coaching staff sees both players as starters. There is an “Or” in between Chris Toudle and Trent Pennix at Tight End, with the former being listed first. Maybe it doesn’t matter whose name is listed first, but I’m shocked Pennix’s name wasn’t the one at the top.
- I’m not shocked that Julian Gray and Keyon Lesane are listed as the starters at the X and Y Wide Receiver positions. They both have had a lot of buzz surrounding them in Fall Camp, and Lesane was named a captain. Obviously, with Gray’s speed, Offensive Coordinator Robert Anae is going to want to find a way to get the ball in his hands. With that being said, and this is no disrespect to the two of them, but both of them are 5’11”, which isn’t exactly the way you would sculpt your prototypical outside receivers. I expect Terrell Timmons and Bradley Rozner to both be heavily in rotation at the X and Y, to give the outside receivers a good dose of speed as well as height.
- True Freshman Running Back Kendrick Raphael might be buried at the bottom of the Depth Chart at his position, but I bet he sees a carry before Mimms or Jones. Doeren mentioned that we would see Raphael against UCONN, but didn’t mention Jones or Mimms. Anae likes to run 2 Running Back sets, with one of them almost functioning like a Full Back. As a result, I’m not shocked to see Jones and Mimms where they are in the Depth Chart.
- Props to True Freshman Kevin Concepcion for earning the starting job at the Inside Wide Receiver position. Get ready to hear his name a lot this year. KC is backed up by Redshirt Sophomore Jalen Coit, who Doeren spoke highly of today.
- Junior Porter Rooks is no longer sitting behind Thayer Thomas on the Depth Chart. Doeren said that Rooks has had a great camp. The former 4-Star prospect has an opportunity to show that those stars meant something by his name. With that being said, he will be pushed by True Freshman Javonte “Juice” Vereen, who even has national media buzzing about him heading into the season.
- Three True Freshman are on the Offensive Depth Chart: Left Guard Kamen Smith, IWR Kevin Concepcion and FLEXY Juice Vereen.
- True Freshman Kamal Bonner is 2nd on the Depth Chart at the Will Linebacker spot, backing up Payton Wilson. What’s noteworthy, is that he’s ahead of former 4-Star prospect Jordan Poole in the Depth Chart. Bonner must have made a heck of a first impression.
- As expected, ODU Graduate Transfer Robert Kennedy is starting at Nickel.
- True Freshman Brandon Cisse is backing up Aydan White at Right Corner, and Doeren said we should expect him to contribute.
- Redshirt Sophomore Jalen Coit will be filling in the shoes of Thayer Thomas at Punt Returner.
