Season Preview: #2 N.C. State

Games against 2012 NCAA Tournament teams: 12

Games against ACC top 4: 5

Games against ACC bottom 4: 7

Best non-conference game: 11/27 at Michigan


Projected Starting Five:

F - Richard Howell (Senior)

F - C.J. Leslie (Junior)

F - Scott Wood (Senior)

G - Rodney Purvis (Freshman)

G - Lorenzo Brown (Junior)


The days of Sidney Lowe are long gone.  Fans are abuzz about the possibilities in Raleigh this year, as N.C. State is coming off a Sweet 16 run and is poised to be better this year.  Many people have them as the #1 team in the ACC this year.  I do not, as I will explain in more detail in my Duke preview.  Regardless, there is a lot to like about the Wolfpack this year.

Let's start with C.J. Leslie.  The issue with him has not been talent.  It has been drive and effort.  Leslie has looked disinterested at times, but Coach Mark Gottfried got the best out of him this year.  He is probably the best player in the conference.  And he has plenty around him.  Lorenzo Brown is an excellent point guard, a scorer and distributor who makes his teammates better.  Richard Howell and Scott Wood are very solid players who are certainly capable of putting up 20 on any given night.  And the Wolfpack bring in a great recruiting class, the best in the ACC, highlighted by Rodney Purvis.  They certainly have the pieces to be an elite team.

N.C. State has put together an interesting schedule.  They are in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, which they can certainly win.  They also go to Michigan and have a neutral site game against UConn.  They have a very manageable start to the conference season, and a lot of games against teams predicted to be at the bottom.

I certainly think N.C. State will have a very good year, their best in a long time.  They should be able to beat people on talent alone, even if they don't have their A game.  I do wonder whether they will be able to carry that chip on their shoulder that did so well last year.  They will be the favorite in most of their games, so Coach Gottfried might have to take a different motivational tactic.  It's interesting when you look at his career, he has not had a lot of success in the NCAA Tournament.  The best regular season teams he had at Alabama went out in the first or second round of the NCAAs.  So he needs to find a way to carry the team's success into March, so they can at least make it back to the Sweet 16.