Continuing on with our series that previews each month of the Men’s Basketball season, lets take a look at January.  Here are our previews of November and December.

The schedule: 9 games (5 home games): 

• Virginia Tech 1/2/16
• Louisville 1/7/16 @ PNC 7PM
• Wake Forest 1/10/16 8PM
• Florida State 1/13/16 @ PNC 9PM
• UNC 1/16/16 12PM
• Pittsburgh 1/19/16
• Duke 1/23/16 @ PNC 2PM
• GT 1/27-16 @ PNC 8PM
• Miami 1/30/16 @ PNC

What to watch for: 

NC State kicks off the ACC season by hitting the road and traveling north to Blacksburg to square off against Buzz Williams and the Hokies.  The Pack should have little trouble in Blacksburg as Coach Gottfried is much further along in developing his program than Buzz Williams, who endured a rocky start to his career at VT.  In his first season last year the Hokies only won 2 ACC games.

After VT the Wolfpack must face Rick Pitino as they travel to the PNC Arena.  This is an intriguing match-up as Coach Gottfried will look to continue his trend of beating future hall of fame coaches.  Last season Gottfried beat Coach K, Rick Pitino, Jim Boeheim, and Roy Williams.  That is not small feat.  I am sure the Pack and the Cards will produce an exciting game as both teams love to play in the open court and push tempo!

The other two headline games are UNC and Duke.  Anytime State plays one of the Blue Bloods it is a cant miss affair.  Last season the Pack turned the Dean Dome red as they beat the Tarheels on a dreary snow packed day.  I am sure that UNC will be even more pumped up this year when the Pack visits Chapel Hill.

Coach K and company have struggled at the PNC recently.  They lost to the Wolfpack last season and had a terrible early exit in the NCAA tournament two seasons ago there.  Duke will be as talented as ever and now have Brandon Ingram, a Top-10 recruit who visited the Wolfpack as much as any school in the country.

ACC play has a way of separating the men from the boys.  The Pack must be prepared and give every team their due respect and focus.  Each game counts as the same in the final standings and this must be NC State’s mindset going into each game.  By the end of January we will have a solid idea of what this team will be and what to expect going forward.

Most intriguing: 

The month of January will be an excellent month for individual match-ups.  Cat Barber versus Marcus Paige will be a great duel that proved to be great theater a year ago.  Cat has the edge when it comes to speed and size, but Paige has great pace and is excellent in making the most of tight spaces.  Last season Cat was dominate versus Paige and the Heels in Chapel Hill, forcing Paige into an awful shooting night (3-8).  That night was historic as the Pack held the Tarheels to their lowest scoring output in the history of the Dean Dome, as they only managed 46 points.

Summary: 

January is an important month as it is the start of the ACC schedule.  Playing 9 games will be challenging especially considering that the Pack plays Louisville, UNC, and Duke.  However the good news is that the schedule sets up nicely as the Pack doesn’t have to play any top 15 teams in a three game stretch, like they did a season ago.  Last January the Wolfpack had to play UVA, Duke, and UNC in a 7 day stretch.  NC State will have plenty of opportunities to secure a couple of great wins that should help strengthen their tournament resume.  January is a pivotal month and will be a great test for the Wolfpack.