NCAA tournament position stays tenuous as NC State does the bare minimum

In a stunning turn of events, it turns out that beating bad teams doesn’t do much for one’s NCAA tournament chances. NC State has won two straight, but beating BC and Wake Forest was a bare-minimum requirement simply for the Wolfpack to maintain its unsteady tournament standing.

The Pack’s average seed in the mountain of NCAA tourney predictions out there is 10, and even the most optimistic takes on State’s situation have the team as an eight-seed. So much unwanted suspense! Why does there always have to be suspense?

The game at Florida State this weekend can have a dramatic impact on NC State’s place in the at-large pecking order—the Seminoles’ recent string of success has them looking at an NCAA tournament seed as high as four. Without question that would be the best win the Wolfpack has claimed all season, and it’d go a long way toward helping the selection committee reconcile the Pack’s bad non-conference slate.

But either way, the Pack needs to keep on beating the teams it should these last two weeks. And all it takes is a win or two in the conference tournament to present another opportunity for a big resume-booster.