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NC State released the non-conference portion of its 2015-16 basketball schedule on Friday afternoon, confirming some of what we already knew and revealing the batch of challenging mid-majors that Mark Gottfried has lined up. The Wolfpack is set to face at least three power-conference schools--Michigan, Missouri, Arizona State--with the potential for playing a fourth (LSU).
Here's the entire thing, via GoPack.com (which has plenty of details on each team):
William and Mary (Friday, Nov. 13 - PNC Arena)
2014-15: 20-13 (12-6 Colonial); RPI: 95
IUPUI (Legends Classic) (Sunday, Nov. 15 - PNC Arena)
2014-15: 10-21 (6-10 Summit); RPI: 260
South Alabama (Legends Classic) (Wednesday, Nov. 18 - PNC Arena)
2014-15: 12-21 (9-11 Sun Belt); RPI: 276
Arizona State (Legends Classic) (Monday, Nov. 23 - Brooklyn, N.Y)
2014-15: 18-16 (9-9 Pac-12); RPI: 102
LSU or Marquette (Legends Classic) (Tuesday, Nov. 24 - Brooklyn, N.Y.)
LSU in 2014-15: (22-11, RPI 54); Marquette in 2014-15: (13-19, RPI 142)
Winthrop (Friday, Nov. 27 - PNC Arena)
2014-15: 19-13 (12-6 Big South); RPI: 211
Michigan (Tuesday, Dec. 1 - PNC Arena)
2014-15: 16-16 (8-10 Big Ten); RPI: 81
Bucknell (Saturday, Dec. 5 - PNC Arena)
2014-15: 19-15 (13-5 Patriot); RPI: 139
South Florida (Sunday, Dec. 13 - Tampa, Fla.)
2014-15: 9-23 (3-15 American); RPI: 273
High Point (Wednesday, Dec. 16 - PNC Arena)
2014-15: 23-10 (13-5 Big South); RPI: 87
Missouri (Saturday, Dec. 19 - Columbia, Mo.)
2014-15: 9-23 (3-15 SEC); RPI: 218
UNC Greensboro (Tuesday, Dec. 22 - PNC Arena)
2014-15: 11-22 (6-12 Southern); RPI: 310
Northeastern (Tuesday, Dec. 29 - PNC Arena)
2014-15: 23-12 (12-6 Colonial); RPI: 85
Mark Gottfried's #schedukong is strong once again, with the likes of Bucknell, Northeastern, William & Mary, High Point, and Winthrop on the slate. All of those teams are coming off of successful campaigns within their leagues and will serve to boost the Pack's strength of schedule and NCAA tournament resume.
Add to all of this a potential rematch with LSU, which might be a top-25 club, and the Pack has itself an excellent, challenging set of games prior to league play. As far as we can estimate these things in July, anyway. It's not a Wake Forest crazypants schedule, but it'll do for sure.