NC State announces men’s basketball non-conference schedule

NC State’s 2022-23 non-conference schedule is out, and, well ... it ain’t gonna sell a lot of season tickets. No, if you’re looking for a decent home matchup, you’ll have to wait for conference play. The Pack will play some solid non-conference opponents, mind you, just not in Raleigh.

Here is the schedule, with last season’s Pomeroy Rating in parenthesis for each opponent:

Nov. 7 — vs. Austin Peay (291)
Nov. 11 — vs. Campbell (211)
Nov. 15 — vs. FIU (275)
Nov. 19 — vs. Elon (247)
Nov. 23-25 — Battle 4 Atlantis (three games)
Nov. 30 — vs. William & Mary (338)
Dec. 6 (at Reynolds) — vs. Coppin State (300)
Dec. 13 — vs. Furman (74)
Dec. 17 (in Chicago) — vs. Vanderbilt (64)

What happens in the Bahamas will end up saying a lot about how this slate is perceived. If the Wolfpack ends up getting two of Kansas/Tennessee/USC/Wisconsin then its overall strength of schedule may not be so bad.

I understand the inclination to schedule softer given that this team is going to need time to develop chemistry, but if the guys do end up being good enough to compete for an NCAA tournament spot, this non-conference schedule might be a problem. I’m getting a wee bit ahead of myself on that, granted.