In its first year under new head coach and the 20th coach in program history Kevin Keatts, the NC State men’s basketball team has earned a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolfpack (21-11, 11-7 ACC) far exceeded expectations this year, finishing fifth in the ACC after being projected by the ACC Operation Basketball 2017-18 Preseason Poll to finish near the cellar at 12th.
“I’m excited for my players and staff to make the NCAA Tournament,” Keatts said to NC State Athletics. “This is the greatest tournament in the world and I’m thrilled my players get to experience it. To go from being preseason picked 12th in the ACC to an at-large selection for the tournament is a great accomplishment. It has been a very rewarding season, but we still have a golden opportunity to build on it. We’ve been given an opportunity to compete for the greatest prize in our sport and we look forward to the challenge.”
NC State will be squaring off against No. 8 seed Seton Hall in the Round of 64. The Wolfpack will be traveling to Wichita, Kansas to play in the Midwest Region. A win over Seton Hall would likely pit the Wolfpack against the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks.
The Pirates (21-11, 10-8 Big East) finished third in the Big East and boast six wins over tournament teams. In its one game against a common opponent, the Pirates narrowly edged then-No. 17 Louisville, 79-77.
With four wins over RPI Top 15 teams and six over RPI Top 50 wins, the Wolfpack boasts arguably the greatest resume of wins for a nine seed.
NC State knocked off then-No. 2 Arizona in just its fifth game, setting the tone for an upset-heavy season. The Wolfpack went on to upset then-No. 2 Duke at home before going on the road to knock off then-No. 10 UNC-Chapel Hill at the Dean Dome. Throw in a home win over then-No. 19 Clemson and the Wolfpack beat four different teams that were all ranked in the top 20 at the time.
Wins over RPI No. 38 Louisville at home and RPI No. 45 Syracuse on the road in the Carrier Dome also helped bolster a Wolfpack resume full of “great” wins but somewhat sparse on “good” wins.
A handful of bad losses likely knocked the Wolfpack down a few seeds. The Wolfpack lost on a neutral court to Northern Iowa, at home to UNC-Greensboro and on the road against Georgia Tech. A 30-point drubbing at the hands of a Notre Dame team that was missing two of its best players, Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell, for all or half of the game, respectively, certainly didn’t help the Pack’s seeding either.
Had the Wolfpack not lost its opening game of the ACC Tournament, it likely could have been looking at a seven seed — Joe Lunardi, ESPN’s “bracketologist,” had the Wolfpack as a nine seed heading into conference championship week.
Keatts will surely be looking to pick up his first NCAA Tournament win after falling short against Duke and Virginia, respectively, in his last two NCAA Tournament appearances as the head coach at UNC-Wilmington.
2018 is the Wolfpack’s first appearance in the Big Dance since 2015 when the Wolfpack knocked off No. 1 seed Villanova on its way to the Sweet Sixteen.
The Wolfpack will start dancing on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
RPI stats from NCAA.com
