Exclusive: Will NC State, the ‘hottest team in the league,’ get and accept an NIT bid?
Kevin Keatts said his team was broken a month ago. Now, after a four-game win streak and a sudden resurrection, could there be a postseason run for N.C. State basketball?
In order to make the NCAA tournament, the Wolfpack (12-9, 8-8 ACC) still needs to win the ACC tournament next week in Greensboro. But has it done enough to boost its NIT resume?
It’s quite possible.
“I have N.C. State just inside that (NIT) field right now,” Patrick Stevens, the Washington Post’s bracketologist told the News & Observer. “About the 15th team.”
The NIT announced this week that 16 teams, not 32, will be invited to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where all the games will be played. In 2019, the last time there was a postseason, the Wolfpack lost 94-93 to Lipscomb in the NIT quarterfinals at Reynolds Coliseum.
N.C. State, in a season twice interrupted by COVID-19 and marred by stomach bugs and injuries, has won four games in a row and five consecutive ACC road games. The Wolfpack’s next test will be Wednesday at Notre Dame (9-13, 6-10). Fighting Irish’s coach Mike Brey recognizes the Pack is on a roll, calling it the “hottest team in the league.”
“They have a spirit,” Brey said about N.C. State’s win streak. “You get a couple under your belt and you have a spirit about you, a belief about you, a confidence about you. I think N.C. State’s greatest advantage is they really believe because they’ve won a couple in a row.”
If they believe they have a shot at a postseason tournament or not, Keatts is not trying to speak it into existence at practice.
“I don’t have the type of bunch that I can talk about the future like that,” Keatts said. “I don’t have a mature enough group of guys to look ahead and say if that happens, if this happens, we just have to focus on who we play against next.”
The Pack riding the momentum of its win streak
After Notre Dame, N.C. State is scheduled to host Virginia Tech at PNC Arena Saturday. But will that game, the last of the regular season for the Wolfpack, happen? The ACC on Tuesday announced that the Hokies’ Wednesday night game with Louisville was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols within Virginia Tech’s program.
Fred Demarest, N.C. State senior associate athletic director, told The News & Observer Tuesday evening that it’s too early to make a call on Saturday’s game. With a win at Notre Dame, the Wolfpack would end the regular season with five straight wins.
Winning out would help N.C. State make a case for the postseason, its third in four years under Keatts. On Feb. 13, the team was 8-9 overall and heading into a tailspin before going on a run its last five games. The Wolfpack was possibly headed to the NCAA tournament last season before the ACC and NCAA tournaments were canceled in mid-March due to COVID-19.
This season’s late win streak has helped, but there’s a lot that needs to happen to ensure a trip to Dallas for the NIT.
“Among the things that’s going to work against them is there will probably be a couple of regular-season (champs), like a Toledo in the MAC,” Stevens explained. “That has a pretty good profile, but might not win its tournament and get thrown into that group.”
Regular-season champions from a one-bid league who don’t win their conference tournament get an automatic spot in the NIT.
The best win on N.C. State’s resume was at No. 15 Virginia last week. What’s not good is the home loss to Miami on Jan. 9. The home victory over UNC in December helped.
“They are in the picture,” Stevens said.
Winning out and just one victory in the ACC tournament will probably get N.C. State into the NIT, Stevens believes. Losing against Notre Dame would make the games in the ACC tournament more important, depending on the opponent. If the Wolfpack faces, say, Miami or Pittsburgh again, those wins wouldn’t hold much weight as a win over UNC, Clemson or Georgia Tech.
“There are varying degrees there or strength,” Stevens said.
Does the Wolfpack want to go to the NIT?
But who wants to go to the NIT after such a trying season?
With everything that’s been required of teams this year due to COVID-19, Stevens pointed out some might decide they’ve had enough. That would bode well for the Pack. If there are teams in the field of 16 that bow out and N.C. State is on the bubble, it could sneak in and take one of those spots.
If they accept a bid.
Stevens said teams might experience fatigue and disappointment of not making the NCAA tournament, and could decide to end their seasons. There’s also the financial factor. So many schools took a big financial hit by football and basketball playing mostly without fans, would it be worth it to spend more money on the NIT?
N.C. State athletic director Boo Corrigan told the N&O he hasn’t decided yet on what he would do if the team is offered the chance to go to the NIT.
“We haven’t figured out what we’re going to do,” Corrigan said. “At some point, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but we’re going to keep gunning for the NCAA tournament.”
If the opportunity is in front of them, it would be wise for N.C. State to take it, Stevens said. One reason? The core of the rotation hasn’t played in a postseason tournament before. Experience with that would go a long way for freshmen Shakeel Moore, Cam Hayes and Dereon Seabron and sophomore Manny Bates, a group that’s never played together beyond the regular season.
That alone could be enough to convince N.C. State to accept a bid if invited.
“You got this core group that you expect to be together,” Stevens said. “Why not?”
NC State at Notre Dame
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday
Where: Purcell Pavilion, South Bend, Indiana
Watch: ACC Network
Betting lines: Notre Dame is a 2-point favorite over N.C. State, according to VegasInsider.
This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Exclusive: Will NC State, the ‘hottest team in the league,’ get and accept an NIT bid?."
