Many sports programs at NC State are going through transformative growth, and 2026 is shaping up to be another exciting year.
Keep Building
The bowl victory over Memphis is unlikely to be a game-changer for NC State, especially for a program that has earned a postseason invite in all but two of Dave Doeren’s seasons at the helm.
Is there a major difference between winning seven games versus winning eight? Not really.
Do bowl wins have the same gravity as a serious achievement? In the world of opt-outs and a growing playoff pool, probably not, unless those wins come in major bowls.
But the optics of eight wins work better coming off a 6-7 season, and winning a bowl game sets the mood in a way that is easier to digest, particularly after not winning a bowl appearance in eight years. A warm-weather bowl victory over a non-P4 opponent pops harder now than in most years.
NC State will now have to build on the improvements of 2025 and for the roster to be better in 2026.
Hard decisions must be made about star players, depth in positions, and players with skills that project to do well against the opponents of next season.
It feels like an exciting, yet pressure-packed, offseason for the Wolfpack.
NCSU has helpfully reminded folks that they played the highest number of eight-win teams in 2025, but that doesn’t gloss over the fact that Virginia Tech was not one of them.
Every season presents a game or two where a stringer team must be equipped to dominate as the champion they aspire to be, and not play with their food as the casual they end up being.
It looks like NC State has a nice chance in 2026. A game in Brazil, a manageable schedule otherwise, and chances to play fewer teams that are losing a third or less of their games.
Wolfpack Nation has seen plenty of seasons where the team fights back after adversity early in a season. The objective of 2026 will be to make the decisions necessary, put in the work required, and get the results to have the biggest possible prizes still out there to fight for in November.
The Journey Continues
The youngest team in the nation is figuring it out, and it comes right as they are readying to embark on one of the easiest conference schedules in 20 years.
NC State’s women’s basketball team is 9-4 overall and 2-0 in ACC play heading into the holidays. For all the drama that the first 13 games dished out, the Wolfpack has everything that it wants to play for right in front of them, and there is no need to rely on others to get there.
The Pack is doing a balancing act with a young squad that possesses no seniors. On one hand, the results have jaded many folks into thinking NCSU is not really that good, which can help and hurt the team in certain ways.
NC State can sneak up on the conference and the country simply by virtue of having further to climb up the national standings than they normally do.
The challenge is continued self-discovery. What is this team’s identity? Who are its leaders? Can Zoe Brooks and Zamareya Jones mesh together in the backcourt in a manner that brings out the best in both?
Those are just some of the questions.
If found, the answers to those questions and others will provide more success for the Wolfpack, both in the immediate and long-term.
As the youngest team in the nation now, it is only a matter of time before NC State is one of the oldest teams in the country, which will be when the Wolfpack should be among the favorites to win a national title.
But the weakest ACC in at least two decades means there are conference championships that this season’s squad can claim. With two wins in the league already, and several non-conference games played against top-ranked teams, why would NC State be afraid of anyone in the ACC?
Why wait for championships next season when you can win them now?
The bottom line is simple: In 2025-26, NC State can win the ACC title once again. The Wolfpack can return to the ACC Tournament Final for a third straight season, and potentially win that.
This team is good enough.
The bad news is that stubbing a toe in this conference can bury a top-tier ACC squad, because there are so many weak teams without anything that remotely resembles a high-end NET squad.
Losing on the road to a decent California team last season was effectively mitigated by beating Notre Dame at home. Which ACC team can help offset that type of loss (or worse) in 2025-26?
NC State’s youth could lend itself to not having things wired tight on a day-in, day-out basis. A loss to an inferior team would then probably mean a second-round NCAA Tournament game in red jerseys while playing against an SEC or Big Ten school on its home court. That is a big worry.
That is also a situation that requires balance. NC State is a young team, but now it is time to act older.
Footy Finds Its Footing
The loss in the national championship game was tantalizingly close to victory as it gets. Losing on a golden goal is probably the one way that can offset the excitement for the future.
It was striking to see the players leave Cary following the late loss to Washington in the national championship game. Some were actually apologizing to fans, as if there was something that they had done wrong.
What hurts most from an NC State standpoint is knowing that if the Wolfpack does reach the pinnacle of men’s soccer, it will be without greats like Logan Erb, Nikola Markovic, Isaac Heffess, Justin McLean, Calem Tommy, Taig Healy, and others.
Marc Hubbard will have to rebuild in some areas and replenish others, but there is nothing about his trajectory at NC State that suggests his program is plateauing.
The best era of men’s soccer at NC State was probably a five-season stretch from 1990 to 1994 under legendary Wolfpack head coach George Tarantini.
NCSU reached the NCAA Tournament four times in those five seasons, reaching the Sweet Sixteen in all four. Three of those times (1990-1992), the Pack also advanced to the national quarterfinals, and in 1990, the program reached the College Cup (Final Four). NC State won the ACC regular season (1994) and ACC Tournament (1990) crowns in that span.
Two seasons in, Hubbard seems poised to give that era a run for its money.
Meanwhile, women’s soccer had a wretched non-conference record of 0-5-2 to open the season somehow morphed into a squad that had a legitimate chance to finish in the top six of the ACC standings.
Wake Forest was the 2024 NCAA Champions in women’s soccer. NC State beat them this past season.
Florida State is the 2025 NCAA Champions. In September, NC State led the Seminoles with less than a minute to go before conceding the tying goal on a set piece.
Gary Higgins proved tactical awareness and an ability to connect with his team in 2025 during his first season as head coach. Now he has to prove he can recruit ACC talent. The showing in league play is something he and his coaching staff can hang their hats on when hitting the trail.
This is probably the most exciting time in the history of NC State soccer and its two programs in at least 30 years, perhaps ever.
NC State could always be a top soccer school. It is a goal that seems quite plausible now.
Comprehensive Coverage (And A Special Dedication to Chuck Coates)
Inside Pack Sports walks a tightrope at times, as many sports and areas within them appeal to subscribers.
Covering soccer, seeing NC State succeed on the pitch, and watching the response of fans as the Wolfpack played ‘The Beautiful Game’ was rewarding.
As far as coverage, soccer has a football problem in that high school games often are played on Fridays, so gathering content becomes an either/or situation. Games on the weekends don’t help matters.
There are conflicting schedules, along with fatigue and monetary decisions that have to be addressed at times.
The objective has always been to provide the best coverage of sports like soccer, volleyball, softball, and wrestling, among others.
We have seen the coverage of women’s basketball and baseball grow. There were many times when IPS was the only outlet that bothered to cover some matches in certain sports, but the success NC State enjoys is the biggest reason those sports see more media and content now.
Women’s basketball and baseball are two examples at NC State that have more media present because they earned the right to have it.
Softball and volleyball have had spells of success; indeed, the walk-off homer to send the Wolfpack softball team to its first Super Regional ever back in 2015 remains a great highlight.
IPS will be there, and with a growing number of writers and correspondents, it is becoming more practical to attend different sporting events.
Wrestling has been a source of frustration because the truth is that the program under Pat Popolizio has been elite for quite a bit and deserves constant coverage.
It is a sport that competes in a sense with the two basketballs, baseball, and softball, as the events occur during the same weeks and months of the year. Life would be simple if one fella could split into three or four parts and cover them all, but at times, there have to be hard decisions made, and when that happens, the outlet will lean toward the event that is most likely to generate more clicks.
There are enough folks in Wolfpack Nation who want wrestling content, and IPS will try to raise that standard in 2026.
With new endeavors come learning new aspects of the sport and some mistakes. IPS is not afraid of that.
In the past, IPS has made it to many wrestling events involving NC State, but it has been scattered and not consistent, mostly due to scheduling issues.
And when Inside Pack Sports does cover NC State wrestling in the future, that coverage will be dedicated to the memory of the Wolfpack’s greatest wrestling supporter of them all, Chuck Coates.
The bottom line is that NC State’s wrestling program has long since earned the right to be covered better by us, has fans that will be eager to see more content, and the memory of Chuck Coates is strong enough to warrant investing time in the sport that brought him so much joy in life.
Conference play for the Wolfpack starts on Friday, January 9 (7 p.m.) at Reynolds Coliseum against Virginia.
Chuck Coates: Rest in Peace, Rest in Power
