NC State men's basketball bracketology update: Jan. 25
NC State got back to its winning ways Tuesday night when the program held off a hot-shooting Notre Dame team for a win at home. A loss in Chapel Hill quieted some of the momentum created by the team over the past few weeks, but the Wolfpack remains comfortably in the NCAA Tournament picture.
According to BracketMatrix.com, NC State appears in all 80 of its brackets surveyed with an average seeding of 7.64, dropping slightly from last week’s 7.44 mark. The Pack, which stands 16-5 overall and 6-4 in the ACC, appears as high as a No. 5 seed in one bracket and drops to the No. 10 line in another.
ESPN moved NC State down slightly but still considers the program a No. 7 seed in Monday’s update. Joe Lunardi picked the Wolfpack to play No. 10-seeded Missouri in Louisville’s South Region. If they left that first-round matchup in Des Moines, Iowa, with a win, NC State would likely match up against No. 2-seeded Kansas State. NC State is one of seven ACC programs in Lunardi’s bracket, the third most bids out of any conference. The Big 12 boasts eight teams in the field, and the Big 10 leads the nation with a whopping 10 bids.
CBS Sports updated its bracket Monday morning and dropped NC State down a full three seed lines. The Pack sits on the No. 8 line of Jerry Palm’s bracket. NC State would play No. 9-seeded Boise State in a round-of-64 matchup in Birmingham, Alabama, in the Midwest Region. The program would likely play Alabama, the region’s No. 1 seed, in the round of 32 if it defeated the Broncos. A total of seven ACC programs made Palm’s bracket as well.
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The Washington Post also features seven ACC teams, including the Wolfpack, in its bracket. After rising to the No. 8 line last week, The Post dropped NC State back down to a No. 9 seed. The publication also has the Wolfpack set for a matchup against Boise State but in Columbus, Ohio, this time. If NC State won its first-round showdown, the program would likely face Purdue, the No. 1 seed in the South Region. This bracket was updated Tuesday afternoon.
Despite the weekend’s loss to North Carolina, Fox Sports’ Michael DeCourcy still considers NC State a No. 8 seed. DeCourcy also sent the Wolfpack to the South Region but for a round-of-64 showdown with Memphis. Purdue would once again be the most likely opponent waiting in the round of 32.
The Athletic last updated its bracket Friday, so it does not take Saturday’s loss or Tuesday’s Wolfpack win into account. With that said, the news outlet features NC State prominently as a No. 6 seed set for a matchup against either Penn State or West Virginia — two schools that would compete in a first-four game. The Wolfpack would play in Louisville’s South Region and play its first game in Orlando, Florida.
