N. C. State Releases 2013 Football Schedule

N. C. State released its football schedule today, though exact dates are still TBD. See the official release from gopack.com here.

The Pack would have three 2012 bowl teams on their slate from the out of conference portion of the schedule if not for Louisiana Tech bungling its invite and getting left out. East Carolina and Central Michigan both went bowling. The FCS opponent du jour is Richmond, which went 8-3 last season but was left out of the FCS playoffs despite finishing tied for second in the CAA. All four OOC games will be in Carter-Finley.

The Pack will play ACC newcomer Syracuse at home along with Clemson, Maryland, and UNC. The scant schedule of road trips includes short trips to Duke and Wake Forest, games that should see the "home" stadiums clad with close to 50% red. The other road games are at Florida State and Boston College.

At first glance, it is a little disappointing to not have a marquee OOC opponent on the slate, but playing the explosive Tech squad and renewing the rivalry against the Pirates should be fun. Overall, it is definitely a friendly first-year slate for new coach Dave Doeren, one that will hopefully allow him to at least immediately replicate the "success" of his predecessor and get the Pack back to a middling bowl before hopefully building bigger and better things in the future.