N.C. State released its 2013-2014 Men’s Basketball schedule on Thursday afternoon. The Wolfpack will play 18 in-conference games against opponents who reached postseason play in 2013—with 10 coming against NCAA Tournament teams.
The Wolfpack will open its regular season at PNC Arena on Friday, Nov. 8, vs. in-state foe Appalachian State. Seven of the following eight games will also be in Raleigh, with the lone road tilt being against Cincinnati during the ESPN 24-Hour College Hoops Marathon. State will play host to the Northwestern Wildcats, coached by former Duke guard and assistant coach Chris Collins, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
The stretch includes match-ups with local rivals Campbell and North Carolina Central prior to Thanksgiving and will end when Detroit visits historic Reynolds Coliseum on Saturday, Dec. 14. Florida Gulf Coast, who advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament in 2013, will also visit Raleigh on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
As the non-conference season nears its end, the Pack will face more competition from within the borders of North Carolina and from the SEC. A trip to Knoxville to play the Tennessee Volunteers and a sojourn to the Greensboro Coliseum to face UNC-G will be matched by visits from East Carolina and Missouri.
The ACC season opens for N.C. State with a look at two of the league’s new members when Pittsburgh visits PNC Arena on Saturday, Jan. 4 followed by a trip three days later to South Bend, Ind. to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Syracuse, the third school joining the ACC this season, will host the Pack on Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Carrier Dome.
Conference expansion often forces schools to face arduous travel arrangements. State will not be spared the inconvenience in February, as the Pack will take to the road for five-of six games in a three-week span.
The Wolfpack will play UNC-Chapel Hill twice in February and Duke once in a nationally televised road game on Jan. 18 in Cameron Indoor Stadium. State split games with both schools last season.
N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried has won 48 games in his two seasons in Raleigh—the most by a coach in his first two seasons in Raleigh since Everett Case posted 55 wins from 1946-48.
With the loss of five of the top seven players from last season’s squad, members from the incoming freshman class—rated 8th nationally by Scout.com—will be looked on to contribute immediately as the Pack faces a challenging schedule this upcoming year.
