There were a good amount of upsets in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this year, but 15/16 favorites won in the round of 32. Because of that, we have just one double digit seed in the Sweet 16, and it is NC State basketball. Just a couple of weeks ago, it looked like the Wolfpack would see their season end in the ACC Tournament. They weren't an NCAA Tournament team, and NC State had to win the ACC tourney to get to March Madness.
NC State basketball finished the regular season with a 17-14 overall record and they were the 10 seed in the ACC Tournament after a 9-11 conference record. The Wolfpack were on no one's radar, but they came out and won the entire thing to book a ticket to the big dance. Head coach Kevin Keatts was asked about what changed for his team, and he thinks that they were beating themselves a bit in the regular season.
“What changed? We got smarter,” Kevin Keatts said, according to a tweet from CBS Sports. “We got the same players who are playing with a little bit more confidence. But when we went back, and starting with the ACC, and we went back and we looked at every team that we lost to, it didn't have a lot to do with them. It was more about what we didn't do. Understanding scouting reports, we had segments in each game where I thought if we play well enough, we would have won the game, but breakdowns and everything else. And so when we talked about going into the ACC tournament, and this tournament, is let's limit our mistakes. And let's stay locked in and a lot of them was, transition defense, ball screen coverage, things that you could clean up, and things that, you know, you don't want to have major league problems where you just can't play. We didn't have that problem because we were good enough to win games. We had problems that you could solve.”
NC State takes on Marquette in the Sweet 16
NC State basketball certainly fixed a lot of those mistakes as they have now rattled off seven straight postseason wins. This team is a great example of how anything can happen in March. This team was not a threat in the regular season, and they all of a sudden found a groove, and they are one of only 16 teams still standing.
As the only double digit seed remaining, the Wolfpack are a fan favorite among college basketball fans that don't have a dog in the fight. Most of the country will be cheering on NC State on Friday night as they will be taking on two seed Marquette basketball with an Elite 8 spot on the line.
The Wolfpack took down #6 seed Texas Tech in the first round, and then they knocked out one of the other NCAA Tournament darling, Oakland, in the round of 32. The road gets much more difficult on Friday against the Golden Eagles.
NC State and Marquette will tip off at 7:09 ET from American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The game will be airing on CBS, and the Golden Eagles are favored by 7.5 points.
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