NC State
This is perhaps the biggest Cinderella story of the tournament thus-far. 8-seeded NC State channeled their inner March Madness magic to take down no. 1 Villanova in the round of 32. But how far can this underdog actually go in the tournament? They have already knocked off the supposed number one team in the East region. Not to mention, their roster is full of athletes that can compete with just about anybody in the NCAA.
Cat Barber provided valuable minutes against Villanova and his 13 points were a key part of the win. He is a versatile guy in the backcourt and NC State just isn’t the same team when he isn’t on the court. He also is the only guy on the Wolfpack’s roster who has the ability to really turn a game around. We saw it against LSU, as he scored a tournament high 17 points leading NC State to a win in dramatic fashion.
But as their Sweet Sixteen match up rapidly approaches against a tough Louisville team, NC State will have to play as well as they did against Nova if they even want a chance. I have full confidence that Barber and Trevor Lacey will be able to control Louisville’s standout guard Terry Rozier. But the key for this game will be their big men under the basket. We all know Louisville’s forward, Anthony Harrell, is a man who isn’t very afraid to get a little physical in the lane. So keeping Harrell off the boards and out of the scoring column will be critical to their success.
If it get’s past Louisville, NC State will face the winner of Oklahoma and Michigan State in a game that would send the winner to the Final Four. Against Sparty, it will be the same story that the Wolfpack read against Louisville. Control their star guard in Travis Trice and keep the MSU big guys off the boards.
On the other hand, if they face the Sooners, NC State will have to rely on their senior sharp shooter Ralston Turner and their leading scorer Trevor Lacey to put points on the board against a tough defensive team in Oklahoma.
With all this said, NC State had to overcome some sports betting odds to make it to the round of 34. Back in February, a Vegas sports book had them at 2000-1 to win it all. The sports book may be sweating a bit if they keep rolling this weekend, as one guy took that bet for 300 dollars. They are currently sitting at 250-1 odds to win the National title, remaining as underdogs despite their recent upset. So as the tournament progresses look for the NC State Wolfpack to continue surprising the NCAA and losing Vegas a little money in the process.
Oh yeah, just another throw away stat about NC State. The last time they beat Duke, UNC, and a no. 1 seed in the same year, they went on to win the National Championship.
Next: Michigan State