Basketball is nearly back as the preseason No. 5 NC State women’s basketball team is set to start its season with an exhibition on Wednesday, Nov. 3 before hosting No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 9. As we do every year, here are our editors’ predictions for how the season might go.

Record

Tristan Tucker: 26-3

The Pack has a tumultuous schedule for sure, drawing No. 1 South Carolina in its opener, along with matchups against No. 4 Maryland, No. 8 Indiana, No. 6 Louisville and more. I see the team faltering in two of those matchups, or perhaps against No. 16 Florida State, along with my pick for the team’s surprise loss…

Nicholas Schnittker: 25-4

I almost said 26-3, but the schedule this year is simply insane. After opening this season with No. 1 South Carolina, the Wolfpack has two more top-10 games in nonconference play and even more ranked matchups in conference play with fellow ACC teams like Louisville, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech all starting the year ranked. The Pack will certainly win some of these games, but it would be nearly impossible to run this gauntlet unscathed. 

Bryan Pyrtle: 26-3

I’ll just go ahead and say it: the Wolfpack will run the table in the ACC this season. After falling to No. 1 South Carolina and No. 4 Maryland early on and failing to get its revenge against No. 8 Indiana, the Pack’s nonconference woes will motivate it to cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war on the rest of the ACC. Despite the aforementioned nonconference struggles, NC State will be set to run the gauntlet thereafter.

Wade Bowman: 26-3

Wolfpack women’s basketball is back and better than ever this season, and I fully expect them to capitalize on missed opportunities from a year ago. They have a daunting road ahead of them, including matchups against UNC, Virginia Tech and Indiana, all of which are on the road, of which I see the team losing. Outside of those it’s shaping up to be another dominant year for Wes Moore and company.

Tournament Seed

Tristan Tucker: 2

I could very much see the Pack going a bit under the win projection I have set out for it. Even if my prediction pulls through, if the team loses to South Carolina and Maryland and then suffers a surprise loss, it’ll be an uphill battle to get a No. 1 seed. There’s a reason it took beating two No. 1 teams last season in order to get its first ever top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Nicholas Schnittker: 1

While that strength of schedule might decrease the Pack’s record a bit, it will certainly earn it a high seed. The Wolfpack was a No. 1 seed last year and I see that happening again this year, especially if it wins two of its three top-10 nonconference matchups.

Bryan Pyrtle: 2

A win over No. 6 Louisville will prevent the Pack from going 0-4 against preseason top-10 teams, but a third-consecutive conference championship will not be enough to bring the Pack back to No. 1 seed status in the eyes of the committee.

Wade Bowman: 1

With a record prediction of 26-3, which would include a win over the preseason No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks, this team will earn its No. 1 seed just as it did a season ago. We just have to hope it can do a little more with it this year than it was able to achieve last year.

MVP

Tristan Tucker: Elissa Cunane

Is there really anyone else you can pick? Cunane is the face of the Pack program and is a lock for several different seasonal awards.

Nicholas Schnittker: Elissa Cunane

I was tempted to try and big brain this pick by thinking Cunane will get doubled a lot this year and pick someone else, but even if she does, she will either rack up a ton of assists by kicking it out to the Pack’s deadly shooters, or just fight through the double. She’s just that good.

Bryan Pyrtle: Elissa Cunane

Self-explanatory.

Wade Bowman: Elissa Cunane

At this point we know exactly what Cunane is capable of, and it’s a whole lot. She is the backbone of this team, which will live and die by her performances night in and night out. I don’t expect that to matter all that much however, because Cunane is going to perform under the brightest and dimmest of lights all year.

Newcomer of the Year

Tristan Tucker: Diamond Johnson

Check out my in-depth feature and breakdown on Johnson to get an idea of what she can bring to the team.

Nicholas Schnittker: Diamond Johnson

Instead of going through the stats, as to not repeat what others have already said, I will simply say that one of my biggest takeaways from the ACC Tipoff event was that Diamond Johnson will be good. Very good.

Bryan Pyrtle: Diamond Johnson

Johnson averaged 17.6 points per page in her freshman season at Rutgers. By comparison, Cunane led the Pack in scoring last season with 16.3 points per game. It’s safe to say that Johnson will add plenty of firepower to this season’s offense.

Wade Bowman: Diamond Johnson

Not much to elaborate on with this pick, Johnson is going to be a star within this program for years to come. In just her first year with Rutgers she made Second Team All-Big 10 and will fit right into this squad as a consistent threat on offense.

Best Win

Tristan Tucker: Indiana

I project the Gamecocks to get revenge against the Pack inside Reynolds, avenging their home loss last season. But on the other side of things, NC State seems out for blood for Indiana, the team that upset it in the NCAA Tournament.

Nicholas Schnittker: South Carolina

The Pack did it last year and in front of a packed house (pun intended), I think there is no doubt that the Wolfpack can do it again. This is going to be some must-watch basketball and if you can get a ticket, you won’t regret it.

Bryan Pyrtle: UNC-Chapel Hill

As I outlined earlier, an early-season wake-up call that includes a loss to No. 1 South Carolina will fuel the Pack to go undefeated in the ACC. The surprise will come later when the Pack wins in Chapel Hill for the first time since February of 2019. NC State is 20-29 all-time when playing the Tar Heels on the road, but the Wolfpack’s unrelenting motivation will overcome its historical struggles playing UNC on the road.

Wade Bowman: South Carolina

It did it a year ago in convincing fashion, and I don’t see much changing. This Wolfpack program is turning into a marquee one for all of collegiate women’s basketball and a marquee program requires big wins to sustain that respect. It’ll be a battle, but one that I expect the Wolfpack to come out on top in.

Surprise Loss

Tristan Tucker: UNC-Chapel Hill

UNC has always enjoyed playing spoiler against NC State and was one of the team’s three losses last season. Even though the Pack has a far superior roster, it feels like the Pack always plays down to the Tar Heels and, at this point, it feels bold to call UNC a surprising loss anymore.

Nicholas Schnittker: Virginia Tech

I went back and forth between the two Techs for this pick, but decided to go with Virginia Tech since the Pack will face it twice this year. Coming in at No. 24 in the AP preseason poll, the Hokies are no joke and have played the Wolfpack relatively tight in the last few years, even winning an OT showdown last season. While a ranked loss isn’t the worst thing in the world, for a top-5 team, a loss to No. 24 isn’t expected.

Bryan Pyrtle: South Carolina

When you predict the Pack’s only three losses to come against only preseason top 10 teams, it’s hard to call any of those losses surprising in any real sense of the word. That being said, given the Pack’s success against No. 1 ranked teams last season, an early-season loss to No. 1 South Carolina despite a raucous home crowd at Reynolds Coliseum gets as close to surprising as you can get with this team.

Wade Bowman: Indiana

Whether you want to consider this a “surprise” or not is up to you, but in a year where the Wolfpack will be one of the better teams in the country, any loss will come as a surprise. Indiana is a great team with plenty of talent that could give the Pack problems in the B1G/ACC Challenge.