MCLAMB: NC State's NCAA Tourney Fate No Longer In The Pack's Hands

The speculation started before NC State beat Clemson on Thursday and it did not abate throughout the team's stay in the 2019 ACC Tournament. Do the Wolfpack deserve an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament?

Virginia showed NC State what being elite looked like in the second half of its quarterfinal win Thursday. Kyle Guy and Jack Salt put the Cavaliers on their back, and in the process displayed the type of intangibles that winning teams possess. 

De'Andre Hunter is a player with NBA potential, but that is not something foreign to NC State. The Wolfpack have only recently landed talented players that were understood to not be destined for four seasons of college play, such as Dennis Smith Jr. The better Wolfpack teams in recent times have had more than that. 

Guy and Salt put up numbers statistically when needed, but they also augment other players – like Hunter and Ty Jerome – when the game dictates. NC State had Richard Howell, a rebounding force that could blend seamlessly with most college teams, along with a healthy Lennard Freeman in 2014-15. C.J. Williams was wonderful during his senior season. It is not a coincidence that NC State reached the Sweet Sixteen in the 2011-12 and 2014-15 seasons. They had talent surrounded by other players who accepted their roles and were not afraid to step up when needed. Virginia, who has reached a top-notch status in the ACC despite its loss to Florida State on Friday, has that blend now. 

The closest thing NC State would have to that is probably Torin Dorn Jr., but he has his ups and downs through no fault of his own. He attacked the offensive glass with fervor despite going up against bigger players, and Dorn's rebounding has kept the Wolfpack in the mix both conference-wise and nationally. 

Will it be enough to get NC State to the Dance again? 

The Wolfpack was besieged with talk of a weak schedule. The statistics are out there, but is that really the problem? 

If Kevin Keatts does not see his team reach the tournament in his second season at NC State the out of conference schedule will not have been the greatest issue. It would more than likely be the losses at Wake Forest and to Georgia Tech. That was a consequence the Pack could control, unlike the wretched play of Vanderbilt and Penn State following their losses to NC State. 

Wins at Wake Forest and on Senior Night against Georgia Tech would have meant a 23-8 overall record and 11-7 mark in ACC play for the Wolfpack heading into the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. 

As bad as they are, the losses to teams like the Demon Deacons and Yellow Jackets will happen. Every conference game is golden and it is too much to expect 18 games of perfection in a meat grinder like the ACC. It is ironic that while the debate was happening, NC State announced that they would open next season with a home game against Georgia Tech in the newly expanded 20-game conference format. That means the first league game will be played less than a week into November. 

The new 20-game ACC schedule has the potential to bury a team, or it can give a squad on the bubble the chance to offset some bad losses with two more tough matchups. 

Selection Sunday will be interesting. Many will consider it a litmus test for NC State's performance and non-conference schedule, but the Wolfpack will need to keep its eye on the prize. 

Consistency throughout the season and having players that excel in the intangibles are what it takes to reach the NCAA Tournament and then make some noise when a team gets there. NC State can look at the blueprint set by others, such as Virginia, or simply use its own recent past. Either way, the course was charted and it is the path the Pack will need to take to be successful in the future, regardless of what happens Sunday. 

NC State can take the element of doubt away from the experts by simply handling the things that can be controlled.