NC State basketball schedule for 2022-23: What do we know?

In 2019, NC State basketball could only watch the NCAA Tournament because the Pack was instead participating in the NIT. While NC State made a fun run to the quarterfinals with three exciting games at Reynolds Coliseum, head coach Kevin Keatts may have been in The Big Dance instead had the Wolfpack not had the worst-rated non-conference strength of schedule in the country.

This season, NC State did better in that regards.

While the non-conference strength of schedule of No. 230 may not impress, the Pack’s overall slate held up well. Colgate (Patriot League), Richmond (Atlantic 10), Texas Southern (SWAC) and Wright State (Horizon League) won their respective conference tournaments. Louisiana Tech (Conference USA) made it to the championship game.

All those teams came to Raleigh.

Neutral-court contests against Purdue and Oklahoma State resulted in two quad one games.

Here are the final NET rankings of the NC State basketball opponents this year, which were updated after the NCAA Tournament:

12. Purdue (neutral)

45. Oklahoma State (neutral)

84. Richmond (neutral)

101. Louisiana Tech

124. Colgate

145. Nebraska

186. Wright State

196. Texas Southern

334. Bucknell

337. Bethune-Cookman

345. Central Connecticut State

The key to move the non-conference strength of schedule up further for NC State is less games like the three in the NET 300s and replacing one of those with a top-75 opponent while moving the other two to be on caliber with the Wright States and Texas Southerns, at a minimum.

Of course, that’s easier said than done in the world of modern college basketball where roster turnover is massive. Predicting what teams will do is not easy. For instance, NC State’s neutral-court game in the aforementioned 2019 season against Vanderbilt was supposed to be a quality game, and instead the Commodores went a surprising 0-18 in the SEC.

Here is what we know already about next season’s NC State basketball schedule:

Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament at Paradise Island in the Bahamas, Nov. 23-25

NC State basketball played in this event in 2017, upsetting second-ranked Arizona before losing to Tennessee and Northern Iowa.

This upcoming year’s event is tentatively scheduled to also have Butler, BYU, Dayton, Kansas, Tennessee, USC and Wisconsin.

Here are those teams’ final NET rankings:

3. Kansas (national champions)

7. Tennessee

25. Wisconsin

40. USC

52. Dayton

59. BYU

117. Butler

The quad cut-offs for neutral court games are 1-50 for quad one, 51-100 for two and 101-200 for three.

Kansas won the national title while Tennessee, Wisconsin and USC made the field of 68. Dayton and BYU were in the NIT. Dayton was the first team left out of the NCAA Tournament this year.

Kansas (No. 8), Tennessee (No. 19) and Dayton (No. 20) are in ESPN’s way-too-early top 25 for next season.

The decision of NC State redshirt junior center Manny Bates to transfer to Butler adds more intrigue to the potential matchups in the Bahamas.

When NC State participated in the fall of 2017, it also hosted a game against Presbyterian as part of the event.

Neutral court game against Vanderbilt For NC State basketball

Keatts confirmed that NC State will play the Commodores from the SEC on a neutral court game. The contest is expected to be in Chicago on Dec. 17.

Vanderbilt went 19-17 a season ago and finished with a NET of No. 62 (which would have been a quad two contest on a neutral court). They were 7-11 in the SEC and made it to the quarterfinals of the NIT. Star sophomore Scotty Pippen Jr. however has turned pro after finishing second in the conference in scoring at 20.4 points per game.

Potential home game against Saint Louis for NC State basketball

In 2020-21, when college basketball scrambled to get schedules done on the fly because of COVID-19, NC State scheduled a road game at Saint Louis. When the agreement was announced, details of a return date to NC State for 2022-23 were also revealed.

Keatts told The Wolfpacker Tuesday evening that game could still happen this fall, but there is a chance that it may be pushed back to the 2023-24 season instead.

Saint Louis went 23-12 last season, including 12-6 in the Atlantic 10, and was No. 66 in the NET. The Billikens reached the NIT.

Saint Louis would have represented a quad-two home contest, which is better than anybody NC State hosted in its recently completed season. Saint Louis made the NIT last year and the season before was probably NCAA Tournament bound for a second straight time had it not been for COVID-19 canceling The Big Dance.

ESPN’s way-too-early top 25 has Saint Louis at No. 23.

Other notes

• In the ACC, NC State will play home-and-homes next season with traditional rivals UNC and Wake Forest plus Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech and Miami. Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh will come to Raleigh, while NC State will have to travel to Boston College, Syracuse, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

• NC State basketball has annually been able to count on a Big Ten/ACC Challenge game, but that may not be the case this fall. Traditionally, the last-place team in the ACC does not compete in the Challenge since the Big Ten has one fewer team in its league.

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