Just in the nick of time, a whole heap of hoops coverage hit the tubes to help distract you from this past weekend's unpleasantness. There's preview-type stuff all over the place today.

-- ACC Preview: NC State aims to emerge from the shadow of its Tobacco Road rivals

-- NC State looking to shift hoops power away from Tobacco Road
What clueless individual is responsible for this title? Or wait a minute, did we get evicted? Hey, did you guys pay the gas bill this month?

-- N.C. State, not Duke or UNC, the ACC favorite
And speaking of national media disconnects:

Some of the same fans who questioned the hiring are making plans for N.C. State's first Final Four berth since the program left an indelible mark on the sport three decades ago.

No one is doing that. No NC State fan would ever do that ever because of NC State Shit and because it is simply a ridiculous thing to do for pretty much any fan of any school.

In all seriousness, though, that's a really good piece. Best of the bunch.

-- ACC Primer: Can rising NC State live up to its preseason hype?

-- National point guard rankings

-- Over at Basketball Prospectus, Dan Hanner has ranked 345 teams. NC State checks in at No. 12, while UNC isn't even in the top 25. Hanner projects NC State's offense to improve by about six points per 100 possessions, with the defense remaining about the same.