As winter weather moves into the Raleigh area, it can be hard for fans to realize that NC State baseball season is only a few short weeks away. With the football and basketball teams middling in mediocrity, the NC State baseball team looks to offer a nice reprieve for fans.
Ranked No. 10 by D1baseball.com, the Wolfpack figures to be a power in the NCAA Tournament picture when June rolls around.
Of course, all of these preseason predictions are good for exactly nothing in the grand scheme of things. In January, everyone can daydream of the Wolfpack hoisting the College World Series Championship trophy in Omaha, Nebraska. However, the reality is that only one team will do it, and expectations have to be tampered before they get out of control.
However, this had me wondering if in fact the Wolfpack baseball team offered the best chance of a national championship for this school in the coming years.
NC State has had individual national champions very recently. Heavyweight wrestler Nick Gwiazdowski is a two-time reigning national champion and offers the school its best chance at a another one in the near future, but when you look at the picture for team sports it gets a little more murky.
The NC State baseball team is ranked among the top 10 in preseason rankings and more importantly has stability in its pitching staff, lineup and coaching staff. The team was one inning away from the Super Regionals last year before an epic meltdown and was in Omaha just three years ago; suggesting that getting there is more than feasible.
The core is young, especially in the pitching staff where ace Brian Brown is just a sophomore, and rotation mates Cory Wilder and Johnny Piedmonte both have two more years of eligibility. This is echoed in the infield where first baseman Preston Palmeiro and Joe Dunand both have several years of eligibility remaining.
This should, in theory, suggest that the team will have its core together for another couple years to grow and mature together. There is of course the draft to consider, which may poach several Wolfpack players this season and throw a wrench into those plans.
The case can undoubtedly be made for the baseball team, so who are its competitors for the next national championship for State?
The most obvious choice is the NC State wrestling team, currently undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the country, is off to its best start in school history. It features top wrestlers from top to bottom, headlined of course by Gwiazdowski.
The Wolfpack wrestlers have already defeated five teams ranked in the Top 25, including No. 4 Oklahoma State.
Other sports can challenge for the top spot as well. The Wolfpack women’s cross country team finished last season ranked No. 9 in the country, while the men finished 17th. The men’s swimming team also finished with a top-10 ranking last season (No. 7) and the women weren’t far behind at No. 13.
Noticeably missing from any of these rankings are the major revenue sports at State: football and basketball. Unfortunately for Wolfpack fans, that doesn’t appear to be likely to change anytime soon.
The football team is stuck behind the juggernauts that are Clemson and Florida State in the ACC and are still way behind the SEC squads, as evidenced by a 51-28 rout by Mississippi State in the Belk Bowl.
The basketball team’s outlook would’ve been better had Trevor Lacey returned, but let’s be honest, he wasn’t taking us to a national championship this season. The team has flirted with a bevy of five-star recruits this offseason and needs to sign more than just Dennis Smith Jr. to field a championship team.
The wrestling team undeniably gives this school the best chance at a national championship, as it is in the midst of a magical season, but other non-revenue sports have done well enough to garner votes as well. If NC State can keep baseball at a top-10 level and bring the other revenue sports up to par, the athletic outlook of the Pack could be changed very quickly.
