just hoping we can beat Xavier to join the real tournament. anything after that is gravy.

3/16/2014 9:17:34 PM

Quote :

"What you're saying is that the winners from small conferences should always be in the playin game."

Yes this is exactly what I'm saying. Better teams should get better seeds. I don't think winning a bad conference should give you automatic preference over a significantly better team.

3/16/2014 9:21:16 PM

Agree to disagree then

Your argument would imply then that we should eliminate conference champion qualifiers altogether and just select the top 64/68 teams into the tournament.

[Edited on March 16, 2014 at 9:26 PM. Reason : Addition]

3/16/2014 9:24:05 PM

^ Yeah I can understand wanting to maintain inclusiveness for the bottom teams, and if that's what you like about the tournament I'm not gonna fault anyone for that. But for my money the level of play is too different for me to want to give them anything more than just being in and it creates some potentially very uneven sides of the brackets (Just look at our region) versus a straight up who is best seeding.

Anyway it's not like my opinion is gonna change anything so agree to disagree.

3/16/2014 9:33:23 PM

Wallace looked like he was more hyped than anyone else.

3/16/2014 9:35:13 PM

If we win our play-in game, we get to play an over-seeded St. Louis team whose lost a bunch of games recently. It's not like we have to play Florida.

3/16/2014 9:35:15 PM

Quote :

"full video http://www.gopack.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/031614aaa.html"

Cat seems stoked (not)

Everyone else's reaction is awesome though. Anya and Freeman especially.

3/16/2014 9:39:28 PM

^Cat is actually smiling quite a bit. He seems happy.

3/16/2014 9:40:20 PM

hahah Beejay's face

3/16/2014 9:41:10 PM

^^Yeah, for Cat. That guy just doesn't ever show emotion -- which can actually be a good trait for a PG.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Wallace's head is about to explode.

[Edited on March 16, 2014 at 9:43 PM. Reason : ]

3/16/2014 9:42:29 PM

where the hell is TBDV

[Edited on March 16, 2014 at 9:46 PM. Reason : v oh there he is]

3/16/2014 9:43:38 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbQqk3KpPNU
youtube link (for some reason, gopack vids are always screwy for me)

loved watching Dez stand there staring at the screen in disbelief and smiling. also loved watching Beejay doing everything

^Vandy comes in at the end, blocking out Cat/Staats/Brickhouse/etc. in the front for a bit

[Edited on March 16, 2014 at 9:44 PM. Reason : a]

3/16/2014 9:44:03 PM

That video is awesome.

3/16/2014 9:50:31 PM

Love this team! Great group of guys, I've never enjoyed watching a state team play as much as this one. A few frustrating losses over the season, but here at the end I can't stop smiling.

3/16/2014 9:53:53 PM

3/16/2014 9:54:18 PM

holy fucking LOL at TJ's face in that screenshot

3/16/2014 9:55:27 PM

3/16/2014 9:57:42 PM

Another good thing about the video -- TJ is jumping up and down.

Guess that injury wasn't too serious.

3/16/2014 10:03:11 PM

We've got till Tuesday to get some top notch Scralett/natty daddy/bojangles photoshops put together.


Pearl/Williams/Seth sucking our Dick so hard right now. Feels good (ominous)

Hey guys, did you know Dickitch didn't like us last year?

[Edited on March 16, 2014 at 10:08 PM. Reason : .]

3/16/2014 10:05:01 PM

http://statsheet.com/mcb/teams/compare?t1-season=2013-2014&t1-type=&t1=north-carolina-state&t2=xavier

3/16/2014 10:12:17 PM

Lulzz, 4 frame zoom on TJW please?

3/16/2014 10:15:05 PM

Joey Brackets is Butthurt.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10619886/espn-reporters-analysts-react-ncaa-tournament-bracket?src=mobile

@d1scource > Lunardi

3/16/2014 10:24:34 PM

I think someone gave the selection committee the john candy cool runnings speech.

3/16/2014 10:28:17 PM

fight probability: 74%

3/16/2014 10:31:07 PM

Espn comments section, well done Vandy
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/96355/lunardi-my-take-on-the-bracket

Quote :

"Well NCSU did beat Florida State and Maryland the only time they played each. They also won at Pitt and at Tennessee. Their losses to Cincinnati and NC Central came when they were without Vandenburg. They have also been playing much better ball down the stretch. "

[Edited on March 16, 2014 at 10:35 PM. Reason : ]

3/16/2014 10:35:02 PM

For Non-Insiders:

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2014/story/_/page/lunardi14NorthCarolinaState/2014-ncaa-tournament-bracket-projections-north-carolina-state-wolfpack?ex_cid=espnapi_public

Quote :

"Bracket projection: NC State How far can ACC player of the year T.J. Warren carry the Wolfpack? Updated: March 16, 2014, 9:16 PM ET By Matthew Catagnus | ESPN Insider T.J. WarrenPhil Ellsworth/ESPN ImagesT.J. Warren is one of the most dynamic offensive players in the country. The North Carolina State Wolfpack snuck into the field of 68 teams with a strong finish to the season. Mark Gottfried's squad features the ACC player of the year, T.J. Warren. Can the Wolfpack pounce on the opportunity and make some noise in the Big Dance? ESPN Insider has your answers, as Joe Lunardi has enlisted a team of Bracketologists to compile advanced metrics, key scouting intel and best- and worst-case tournament scenarios for all 68 teams to help you make smart picks in your bracket. Plus, as Lunardi fills out his bracket, he'll give you his prediction on how each team will fare. PROFILES FOR ALL 68 TEAMS | BRACKET PREDICTOR TOURNEY PROFILE Best wins: at Tennessee, Florida State, at Pittsburgh Worst losses: North Carolina Central, at Clemson, Miami (FL) Conference finish: Seventh, ACC Polls and metrics: The BPI rankings were not friendly for North Carolina State, slotting the Wolfpack at 66. All-time tourney record: 34-23, two national titles Coach's tourney record: Mark Gottfried (7-9) Bracketology chart | BPI information PERSONNEL (Note: Player statistics are for the regular season only.) Starting lineup Pos. Name PPG MPG C Jordan Vandenberg 4.5 21.8 F Kyle Washington 4.9 20.5 F T.J. Warren 24.8 35.3 G Ralston Turner 10.2 25.6 G Tyler Lewis 4.2 19.4 Key bench players Pos. Name PPG MPG G Desmond Lee 8.4 24.8 G Anthony Barber 8.7 24.8 F Lennard Freeman 4.1 22.6 Biggest strength: It never hurts to have the conference player of the year on your roster. Warren is every bit as good as advertised and does a great job of making everybody around him better. Warren is such a strong competitor his teammates feel the need to rise to his level of play. Biggest weakness: The Wolfpack don't really intimidate opponents down low on offense. Kyle Washington and Jordan Vandenberg are both limited in skills and don't see too many touches near the basket. NC State relies too heavily on Warren to score at times. Best player: Warren. If there is one thing you can count on when the Wolfpack suit up, it's that Warren is going to score close to 25 points. The forward is absolutely relentless when he gets the ball, using a combination of floaters and spins to get his shot off. Few players in the country can take over a game the way Warren can. X factor: Ralston Turner is the team's best shooter and second-leading scorer. Without him, the Wolfpack do not shoot the ball well from beyond the arc at all. Turner carries a large burden for NC State in that regard. Essentially, they need him to be accurate from 3-point range to keep attention away from Warren. SCOUTING REPORT Offensive approach: The Wolfpack use a ton of isolations to give Warren space to operate. Turner loves to run off screens and hang around the 3-point line, waiting for a chance to hoist from deep. Outside of that, NC State is reliant upon opportunistic scoring from secondary options in Barber and Lee. Defensive approach: The Wolfpack play man-to-man defense, with some sprinkles of a 2-3 zone. Vandenberg is a monstrous body in the paint, and Washington isn't small, either. Warren receives a ton of credit for his offense, but he's also tasked with marking the other team's best player on defense. How they beat you: Gottfried has no problems giving the ball to Warren and telling everybody else to get out of his way on offense. More often than not, Warren rewards his coach with outstanding production. If the Wolfpack get strong shooting from Turner and any kind of offensive help from Lewis or the big men, then you'll be hard-pressed to take down NC State. How you beat them: In many ways, the Wolfpack are a one-trick pony. On the rare occasion that Warren isn't filling up the stat sheet, this team really struggles to score. NC State also has a tendency to get loose with the ball and commit bad turnovers at inopportune times. Control Warren and capitalize off their turnovers, and you have the recipe for beating NC State. WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY (Note: All statistics in this section are courtesy of kenpom.com, and are accurate through games of March 9.) Category Stat Nat'l rank Offensive efficiency 112.0 43 Defensive efficiency 103.2 143 3-point percentage 30.3 325 3-point percentage D 32.1 62 Free throw rate 36.6 275 Free throw rate D 42.7 229 TO percentage 16.2 49 TO percentage D 27.7 215 Good stat: 32.1 3-point percentage defense The Wolfpack do a great job of guarding shots from outside the arc. Warren is responsible for a large percentage of that success, thanks to his stout defense guarding the opposing team's best player. As a result, NC State is able to keep games within striking distance. Bad stat: 30.3 3-point percentage This team's struggles to knock down 3s are going to come back to haunt them at some point. When Turner doesn't have the hot hand then its unlikely anybody, including Warren, is a threat to make 3-point shots. This really limits Gottfried's club on offense. HOW FAR WILL THEY GO? Best-case scenario: Sweet 16 exit The Wolfpack have the pieces to create some buzz and make a run to the second weekend. Warren needs to put the team on his back and step up his spectacular play to another level. If other players rally offensively outside of Warren and Turner, NC State can bust some brackets. Worst-case scenario: Opening-round exit All it takes is one off night from Warren and NC State is going to get bounced from the tournament in a hurry. This squad just doesn't have enough consistent offensive firepower and long-range shooting to make up for a poor performance by the ACC's best player."

3/16/2014 10:35:42 PM

Quote :

"NC State also has a tendency to get loose with the ball and commit bad turnovers at inopportune times."

I think this was written by one of our fans.

3/16/2014 10:42:50 PM

Let's not forget our MVP this season.

The Natty Daddy

3/16/2014 10:45:02 PM

Props to Scottie b for all the gifs on page 40.

Also, lunardi doesn't have our win over Syracuse, must have been made pre acc tourney.

3/16/2014 10:46:59 PM

http://thebiglead.com/2014/03/16/ncaa-tournament-schedule-times-and-announcers-for-thursday-friday/

Looks like we're on at 7:20 Thurs if we make it past Xavier

3/16/2014 10:51:31 PM

Quote :

"Worst losses: North Carolina Central, at Clemson, Miami (FL)"

Did they forget about @Wake?

3/16/2014 10:53:36 PM

Lunardi doesn't include Wake as one of our worst 3 losses, and considers a home win over Florida State a better win than versus Syracuse

[Edited on March 16, 2014 at 10:56 PM. Reason : ^yep]

3/16/2014 10:55:59 PM

PACK PACK IN THE TORNEY NOW

WEARIN THE COLORS THAT WEAR SO PROUD

AND WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO WHEN WE WIN
IT'S A NEW NC STATE TRADITION



[Edited on March 16, 2014 at 11:01 PM. Reason : JAAMMMMIIIIINNNN OOONNN THE HOT!]

3/16/2014 10:59:12 PM

Quote :

"Best-case scenario: Sweet 16 exit"

does this mean Round of 32 exit? Like we exit before the Sweet 16? I'd have a hard time thinking our best case scenario according to Lunardi is beating Louisville, and then losing the next one

3/16/2014 11:01:47 PM

The best-case scenario for every team in the tournament is winning the national championship.

3/16/2014 11:03:56 PM

Hope our guys are ready for a shit ton of basketball in a short period of time.

Mark Makes March Fun.

3/16/2014 11:04:07 PM

Lewis has less than 48 hours to become a 3-point threat.

I also expect to see some long ones from Vandenberg. He's money. I can tell.

3/16/2014 11:06:01 PM

Finally in what seems like forever we aren't in weekday afternoon pairings!

3/16/2014 11:09:05 PM

photo_photo.aspx?user=16734&photo=532123&filter=

[Edited on March 17, 2014 at 12:45 AM. Reason : U]

3/17/2014 12:45:21 AM

3/17/2014 1:09:56 AM

^ Hahahaha!!

3/17/2014 3:10:14 AM

Would like to get to louisville

3/17/2014 3:22:31 AM

it sucks that we have to get past louisville to get to sweet 16

3/17/2014 3:45:47 AM

looking forward to the tyler lewis russ smith matchup

3/17/2014 5:19:45 AM

If CBS really wanted to do it right, they would have announced us last again. Coulda kept the trolling going.

3/17/2014 7:15:54 AM

reading the twitter reactions...Jeff Goodman just sounds like a miserable human being. Nothing nice to say about anyone? It was all "hate, hate, hate". I guess he has found his niche as a reporter. So sad for him.

Also...the fact that people are still calling a NCCU loss as a "bad" loss is crazy to me. Its not a great loss, but damn...that's a pretty damn good team. And we were without Vandenburg, playing 3 freshmen bigs and still finding our way.

3/17/2014 7:32:23 AM

I mean...they won their conference, almost had 30 wins, and made the fucking tourney. It's not a great loss...but it's not bad either.

3/17/2014 7:52:55 AM

The wake loss looks way worse.

3/17/2014 8:03:00 AM

I feel like Wake was a loss b/c it was sandwiched b/t UVA and Duke. Definition of a trap game.

3/17/2014 8:04:29 AM

Wake loss also wasn't that bad, IMO. They were pretty damn good at home beating NC State, UNC, Duke and hanging tough with Syracuse back when Syracuse was still undefeated. Wake was a different team at home. We played them tougher in W-S than UNC and Duke did.

3/17/2014 8:11:28 AM