The North Carolina State basketball team's improbable path to the ACC Tournament Championship earned the Wolfpack an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolfpack (22-14, 9-11 ACC) earned the No. 11 seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Sunday. In the first round, they will face No. 6 Texas Tech in Pittsburgh. North Carolina State aims to escape from the South Region, and if they can get past the Red Raiders, they will face the winner of the matchup between No. 3 Kentucky and No. 14 Oakland State in the second round.
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NC State has appeared in the Big Dance 29 times in program history, but this will be its third appearance in the last nine years. Kevin Keatts, who is in his seventh season as head coach, will be making his third appearance with the Wolfpack. He entered last season as a No. 11 seed, but lost in the first round to No. 6 seed Creighton, 72-63.
North Carolina State hasn't made it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament since a Sweet 16 appearance in 2015.
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The game against Texas Tech will be held in Pittsburgh.
What is North Carolina State's seed for the NCAA Tournament?
After a tumultuous season, the Wolfpack needed to win the ACC Tournament to have a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina State has him ranked No. 58 in his KenPom rankings and No. 63 in his Net rankings, suggesting he will be on the fringe of his bubble team if they don't win the tournament. The Wolfpack went 3-8 in Quad 1 games, 6-5 in Quad 2 games, and 13-1 in Quad 3 and Quad games combined.
How did the Wolfpack make it to the NCAA Tournament?
North Carolina State was the No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament. That is, in order to win the championship, he needed to win 5 matches in the same number of days. By defeating North Carolina State, they automatically qualified for the dance. The Wolfpack becomes the second double-digit seed to win the conference tournament. They defeated No. 15 Louisville (94-85), No. 7 Syracuse (83-65), No. 2 Duke (74-69), No. 3 Virginia (73-65) and No. 1 UNC (84-76). ) over 5 days.
The wins over the Blue Devils and Tar Heels accounted for two of the Wolfpack's three Quad 1 wins this season. The win between the Orange and the Cavaliers was their fourth consecutive win, and the win against the Cardinals was their fourth consecutive win.
