NC State announced its home basketball schedule on Tuesday afternoon, and there isn't much worth worrying about in the out-of-conference portion. Stanford should be a tough out, but beyond the Cardinal it's hard to imagine the Pack dropping one of these games. Below I've included the offensive and defensive efficiency rankings for each team, along with some other tidbits. (With thanks, as always, to Ken Pomeroy's site.)
Cleveland State (Reynolds game)
2012 Pomeroy Rating: 83
2012 Off. Eff. Rank: 113
2012 Def. Eff. Rank: 67
2012 Finish: 2nd in Horizon League; NIT 1st Round loss to Stanford
Fun Fact(s): Cleveland State's defense finished eighth in steal percentage and fifth in turnover percentage last season. This team loses a trio of guards, though, so a repeat performance seems unlikely.
Miami (OH)
2012 Pomeroy Rating: 196
2012 Off. Eff. Rank: 180
2012 Def. Eff. Rank: 219
2012 Finish: Last in MAC Eastern Division; T10th in MAC overall standings
Fun Fact(s): Finished 2012 ranked 339th in adjusted tempo. That is slow. #analysis
Norfolk State
2012 Pomeroy Rating: 201
2012 Off. Eff. Rank: 226
2012 Def. Eff. Rank: 183
2012 Finish: 2nd in MEAC regular season; MEAC tourney champs; lost in 2nd round of NCAAs to Florida after upset over Missouri in 1st round
Fun Fact(s): Kyle O'Quinn and Chris McEachin combined to take about half the team's shots when they were on the floor together. They were seniors in 2012.
Stanford
2012 Pomeroy Rating: 32
2012 Off. Eff. Rank: 81
2012 Def. Eff. Rank: 19
2012 Finish: 7th in Pac-12; won NIT
Fun Fact(s): Opponents shot just 65% from the FT line in 2012. Stanford's FT defense clearly was superb.
St. Bonaventure
2012 Pomeroy Rating: 52
2012 Off. Eff. Rank: 38
2012 Def. Eff. Rank: 86
2012 Finish: 3rd in A-10 regular season; A-10 conference tourney champs; lost in 1st round of NCAAs to FSU
Fun Fact(s): The now-departed Andrew Nicholson took over 30% of the shots and hit better than 59% inside the arc in 2012. He wasn't enough to beat Calvin, though.
UNC-Asheville
2012 Pomeroy Rating: 117
2012 Off. Eff. Rank: 61
2012 Def. Eff. Rank: 194
2012 Finish: Won Big South regular season and tournament titles; lost in 1st round of NCAAs to Syracuse
Fun Fact(s): Asheville averaged 1.14 points per possession in conference play and led the league in eFG%, FT rate, 2FG%, and FT% on the way to a 16-2 record. The heart of that offense is gone, however.
UNC-Greensboro
2012 Pomeroy Rating: 269
2012 Off. Eff. Rank: 259
2012 Def. Eff. Rank: 268
2012 Finish: 1st in SoCon North Division; T4th in SoCon overall standings
Fun Fact(s): Trevis Simpson took 38.3% of UNCG's shots while he was on the floor, which was tops in the nation. Simpson and running mate Derrell Armstrong--both of whom return--together took two out of every three UNCG field goal attempts while on the court together. (hat tip to Dash Spartan)
Western Michigan
2012 Pomeroy Rating: 181
2012 Off. Eff. Rank: 137
2012 Def. Eff. Rank: 247
2012 Finish: T3rd MAC Western Division; T8th in MAC overall standings
Fun Fact(s): WMU turned the ball over on 21.7% of its offensive possessions and forced turnovers on just 16% of its defensive possessions, which is of course a 5.7 on the Sidney Lowe Dammit You Stupid Team Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy Index.