:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70341571/usa_today_17238532.0.jpg)
If the men’s basketball team has you down, you can cheer yourself up by thinking about the success of just about every other program on campus over the past year. We’re really fortunate right now to have a great collection of coaches who’ve built genuine powerhouse programs—at little ol’ NC State!
I try to remind myself of this fact regularly but probably still don’t do it enough. This quick look back at 2021 from the athletics department helpfully illustrates just how good we had it in the last calendar year:
This year we shook hands with adversity, played with the cards we were dealt and fought together until the end. We are the NC State Wolfpack. This is a look back at some of the top sports moments of 2021 #StrengthInThePack pic.twitter.com/EJnREZ7b0A
— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) December 30, 2021
NC State won its first team national championship in almost 40 years and between women’s swimming (2nd place) and baseball (blarg) came pretty close to winning three team titles, which is crazy.
It also goes to show what an unprecedented era this is for the athletics department, which has never been this consistently good from sport to sport ... ever? When I think about where we are now vs. where we were when I was in school 20 years ago, it’s difficult to fathom the difference.
So while the men’s basketball team may continue to be depressing over the next few months, the nice thing about our current situation is we can turn to women’s basketball, which is gunning for a third-straight ACC title. Or wrestling, which is elite, as usual. Or swimming, because same. And baseball ain’t far off, either. You could also just daydream about next football season, if that’s your preference.
Living in the golden age of Wolfpack athletics is pretty nice.