MCLAMB: Moore To Accomplish
There was a sense of underachievement when NC State walked off the court following its season-ending loss to Indiana in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
That does not imply that the Wolfpack was ungrateful for the journey or the title they collected along the way. Wes Moore guided NCSU to its second straight ACC Tournament championship and did so during a pandemic.
Losing to Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen did leave a bad taste. It was the third straight time in Moore’s tenure that his team fell at the regional semifinal level, but the 2021 NCAA Tournament felt like the first legitimate chance his program had at winning and advancing to the Elite Eight and, with it, a shot at reaching the Final Four. NC State has taken down some terrific teams since Moore arrived in 2013, but it still has the burden to prove that it can beat two elite teams in three days when a loss means the season is over.
Fast forward to the last week of basketball, when the Wolfpack rallied from a double-digit deficit to take out then third-ranked Louisville before holding on to nip Virginia Tech four days later.
If NC State is going to cross the threshold into being an elite program on the national level -- and the Pack has been banging on that door for a few years -- last week was as close to a simulation to what they would face in a potential regional semifinal and regional final situation as they could ask for.
Ultimately, teams are judged most by what they do in the NCAA Tournament. However, there is a march to March, and there are accolades and titles to win along the way.
Louisville and Virginia Tech are not too far off from South Carolina and Georgia, both of whom beat NC State in Raleigh. The Gamecocks are the best in the country at the moment, but beating the Cardinals will put a pep in the Pack’s step. Virginia Tech could not complete the rally, as Georgia did. The wins last week can signify growth in that respect as well.
If NC State was looking for two games to lose as it was finding itself, it almost certainly would pick South Carolina and Georgia over Louisville and Virginia Tech, especially considering the competitiveness of this season’s ACC standings.
And now the Pack has found itself at 9-0 in the conference, but a challenging second half to the league slate awaits beginning Sunday in Chapel Hill against North Carolina -- a team that has beaten NCSU the last two times they met at the home of the Tar Heels.
The rest of the journey will have a rocky path to navigate, but NC State has put itself in control of its destiny to win something Wes Moore has yet to accomplish in his previous eight seasons in Raleigh -- an ACC regular-season title.
Is there a better way to prepare yourself for crossing into elite status than by doing something elite? At North Carolina, at Notre Dame, Florida State, Georgia Tech, at Boston College, at Duke, Wake Forest, Syracuse, and at Virginia Tech. Nine games in a span of fewer than 30 days.
That is a month of basketball to get to the biggest month of basketball. NC State has put itself in a position to be the best. If a team wants to be considered a threat to win a national title, a regular-season league championship can provide a great chance to hone in on what it takes to succeed in March.