NC State basketball reportedly to play Tennessee on neutral court

Scheduling wisely has become important for the NCAA Tournament and its selection committee, especially in the era of NET rankings and weighting wins by quadrants. To that end, NC State basketball has lined up a marquee game to add value for its 2023-24 slate.

According to Jon Rothstein, NC State will travel to San Antonio on Dec. 16 to play Tennessee.

The Vols reached the Sweet 16 last season before falling to upstart Cinderella and Final Four-bound Florida Atlantic. Tennessee finished the season 25-11 overall. ESPN.com’s way-too-early top 25 has the Vols ranked No. 5 and called head coach Rick Barnes “one of the biggest portal winners.”

Since the game is a neutral court, top 50-rated NET teams count as a Quadrant I game. Tennessee seems almost certain to qualify as the highest tier opportunity for NC State.

NC State basketball also going to Vegas

NC State will join Arizona State, BYU and Vanderbilt in Las Vegas for what is being called the Vegas Showdown.

The event will be Nov. 22 and 24, the days before and after Thanksgiving.

Coincidentally, Arizona State grad transfer DJ Horne has transferred to NC State and could play his former team. He averaged 12.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for an Arizona State squad that went 23-13 and was one of the last four at-large teams selected to the NCAA Tournament.

Coached by former Duke legend Bobby Hurley, ASU routed Nevada in Dayton, Ohio to open NCAA Tournament play and nearly upset TCU two days later. ASU, however, has lost at least four of the top five scorers from that team, Horne included, and the fifth is considering the NBA.

ASU has added six players via the portal, including one-time NC State signee Shawn Phillips, a center who was a freshman at LSU last year.

In the final NET rankings before the NCAA Tournament was announced, Arizona State was No. 61, which on a neutral court would count as a Quad 2 contest for NC State.

BYU was NET No. 84, which also would be a Quad 2 game for NC State on a neutral court. The Cougars finished the season 19-15 while competing for the last time in the West Coast Conference. Next season will bring a move to the Big 12.

BYU landed Charlotte post transfer Aly Khalifa, a skilled 6-foot-11 post player who averaged 11.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Khalifa is one of a trio of solid transfers BYU has added to join a squad that is expected to return two of its top three scorers from last season.

NC State defeated Vanderbilt on a neutral court site in Chicago last season, prevailing 70-66. The Commodores caught fire late in the year and finished 11-7 in the SEC, earning a bid to the NIT where Vandy beat Michigan and reached the semifinals before losing to UAB and closing the campaign at 22-15 overall. They finished the regular season No. 81 in the NET rankings.

Vanderbilt has been hit hard by attrition. Leading scorer Liam Robbins exhausted his eligibility, and two of the next four leading scorers all transferred out. However, Vandy was boosted by the return of guard and second-leading scorer Tyrin Lawrence, who withdrew from the portal

Other scheduling tidbits

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 University. When the agreement was announced, details of a return date to NC State for 2022-23 were also revealed.

Kevin Keatts however told TheWolfpacker.com last summer that the game may get pushed back to 2023-24 instead, and that appears to have been the case since the Billikens were not on the slate last winter.

Saint Louis went 21-12 this past season and was in a three-way tie for second in the Atlantic 10. Their final NET ranking was No. 97, which would be a Quad 3 contest at home. Star point guard Yuri Collins, who averaged a double-double of 11.2 points and 10.1 assists per game, turned pro, and fourth-leading scorer Javon Pickett exhausted his eligibility.

The Pack will also presumably be a part of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge. Matchups have yet to be announced.