What Do Early Season NC State Basketball Results Predict?

Now that the first 10 games of the season are in the books, let’s take a look at how our results stack up against the last 20 years, and determine if they give us insights into what our final record might be.

In the 20 seasons from 1997-98 through 2016-17 for the first 10 games of each campaign, the Pack had an overall record of 155-46, converting to an average start of 8-2 – same as the current squad.

· In those 20 seasons, the Pack’s overall record was 383-281 for an average final record of 19-14

· We had two seasons where we began with 6-4 records: one season finished 15-16; the other 24-13 (oddly, these were back-to-back seasons – 2010-11 and 2011-12) – average overall record of 20-15

· For four seasons, we started 7-3 with an average finish of 16-16 (best finish: 20-16 in ’06-07; worst: 13-16 in ’00-01)

· In 11 seasons, the Pack forged 8-2 starts and a final average record of 20-14 (best: 24-11 in ’12-13; worst: 15-17 in ’16-17)

· In three seasons, we began 9-1 with an average finish of 21-13 (best finish: 22-10 in ’05-06; worst: 20-14 in ’99-00)

What does all of this data tell us? More than likely, it does not convey much when it comes to predicting our final results for this year. Since we have begun this season 8-2, if you compare to the previous 11 seasons where we began with the same record, we could finish with anywhere from 15 to 24 wins.

State is scheduled to play 31 regular season games this year with at least one ACC tourney game guaranteed. Then we have the potential for a minimum of an additional one game in the NCAA tourney, NIT, or CBI.

Based on what you have seen through 10 games, what is your prediction on the Pack’s final record?