If you had looked someone in the eye after NC State fell to Florida State at the RBC Center in Raleigh on March 6th of 2011 to close a dismal 2010-11 campaign and told them that the Wolfpack would have a puncher's chance at going to the NCAA Tournament in 2012, they likely would have chuckled once or twice. After all, it was the program's fifth straight losing season in ACC play, with only two NIT appearances in then-head coach Sidney Lowe's five seasons. That wasn't going to cut it in the basketball-crazed Atlantic Coast Conference.
Enter Mark Gottfried. The former Alabama boss who led the Crimson Tide to five straight NCAA Tournaments between 2001-02 and 2005-06 stepped in to clean up the mess and has set a solid foundation in his first year. While it's not uncommon for first-year coaches to experience substantial growing pains when they arrive at a school, that hasn't been the case in Raleigh. Gottfried has guided NC State to an overall record of 19-11 (8-7 in the ACC), which has them squarely on the NCAA bubble going into Sunday's finale against Seth Greenberg's Hokies (15-15, 4-11 ACC) at Cassell Coliseum (6 pm, ESPNU).
NC State has won just one of its last five games, that win being a 77-73 home victory over fellow bubble team Miami on Wednesday night. That gave State the tiebreaker over the Hurricanes for the season, should they finish tied in the final standings (Miami is also 8-7 and closes their season Saturday at home against lowly Boston College). But NC State has a dearth of quality wins this season, having squandered opportunities both out of conference (Vanderbilt, Indiana, Syracuse) and in conference (Duke, North Carolina, Florida State).
Beating Virginia Tech is far from a marquee win, even in Cassell, which is regarded as one of the tougher ACC venues at which to play. Moreover, losing to the Hokies would put a sizable blemish on NC State's already questionable resume. According to CBS Sports, Virginia Tech's RPI currently sits at 110. The committee is not going to look favorably upon such a loss this late in the season, especially if it comes after four of five losses. The Wolfpack's RPI is 58, a figure that is not likely to climb substantially even with a win in Blacksburg. However, taking care of business is imperative if NC State wants any chance at dancing for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
Sophomore forward C.J. Leslie leads a balanced Wolfpack scoring attack with and average of 14.2 points per game. Fellow sophomore Lorenzo Brown, a 6-5 point guard, is second with 12.6 points per game. In all, the entire NC State starting lineup is averaging double figures in scoring this season, with junior Scott Wood at 12.4, senior C.J. Williams at 11.3, and junior Richard Howell coming in at 10.9. Howell is also the team's leading rebounder at 9.2 boards per game, with Leslie averaging seven caroms a contest.
The Hokies have relied heavily on their backcourt duo of junior Erick Green and fifth-year senior Dorenzo Hudson this season. Green averages 15.4 points while Hudson averages eleven per game. Those two are the only two Hokies averaging double figures--the next highest scorer is sophomore Jarell Eddie, who comes in at 9.5. Virginia Tech's leading rebounder is freshman Dorian Finney-Smith at a 6.8 average. It is unclear whether senior forward Victor Davila, who had been the Hokies most consistent inside threat, will play due to a groin injury. Davila has missed the last five games due to that injury, making Virginia Tech's already thin frontcourt that much thinner. The Hokies have gone 1-4 during that stretch.
NC State has not beaten Virginia Tech since a 73-63 triumph in Raleigh on February 5th, 2008 and is winless at Cassell Coliseum since 2007. Last season, the Hokies scored a 77-69 victory at the RBC Center. However, both teams have gone in opposite directions since then, and the NC State faithful certainly hope that continues on Sunday.
This article was written by Luke Nadkami, a new writer to the site. Look for more coming from Luke soon!
