I may have been a little facetious in a previous post about the votes NC State received earlier in the season. Turns out that was just priming the pump. As the Wolfpack has continued to win (4-0, 1-0), and also not lose, they have inched closer to the top 25.
They broke through today for their first national ranking of this season. In the latest polls of Week 6, NC State is ranked #23 in the AP poll, and #25 in the Coaches poll.
There is clearly a hesitance to over rank the Pack quite yet, as 11 of the 22 teams ahead of the team in the AP poll have one loss, and 13 of 24 in the Coaches. Many of those other teams have played an extra game, so there’s that.
As for upcoming opponents, Clemson barely skated by Syracuse while Ohio State beat Penn State, causing the Tigers to drop a spot to #4 (so sad for them). Boston College didn’t wildly impress against Temple, so they remain in the Others Receiving Votes bin. Both teams suffered injuries to key players, which we’ll monitor in the coming days. Also, Miami and VT are ranked, moving on.
Reminder as always, these rankings at this point don’t mean much if you don’t keep winning. The most crucial three game stretch of the year is coming up for the Pack. If they beat BC then the hype train during the bye week leading to Clemson is going to be lit. Did I use that correctly? I’m too old to use slang. I retract the statement..