At some point, presumably, NC State will, through the ACC’s newly established alliance with the Big Ten and Pac-12, start scheduling some games with teams from those conference.

NC State does not have a long history with those teams, with a couple of very notable exceptions, from the Big Ten or Pac-12, but here are five matchups that might present some intriguing potential.

This is the most obvious.

Maryland has a long history in the ACC, and the Terrapins and Wolfpack fanbases have similar passions for their athletics. There are a lot of ties between the two schools, with the most recent being that former Maryland director of athletics Debbie Yow left there to come to NC State.

Here is an amazing stat about one-time ACC member Maryland’s series with NC State. The two teams are 33-33-4 against each other. It was not uncommon for the two teams to end the regular season together. They did so six times between 2003-13, and the Terrapins’ final game in the conference was a win over NC State in 2013.

Given that Penn State's high profile brand will likely lend itself to matchups against the Clemsons or Southern Cals of the world, it's hard to realistically envision this game being scheduled. There's also the possibility that an in-state showdown with Pitt has more appeal.

But next to Maryland, there is no team that has a longer history against the Wolfpack from those conferences than the Nittany Lions. From 1967-82, the two teams met 14 times, including every year starting in 1971.

Nine of those games were decided by single digits, including two crushing losses for the Wolfpack.

The 1967, the famous White Shoes Defense team at NC State, ranked No. 3 nationally and owning an early season win at second-ranked Houston, was contending for a national title. A goal line stand to end the game by Penn State at State College gave the Nittany Lions a 13-8 win and crushing the Pack's dream year. Watching were scouts from the Sugar and Orange Bowls, and they were there to see the Pack, not Joe Paterno’s squad.

Making matters worse for NC State, the No. 1 and 2 teams in the country, USC and UCLA respectively, also lost that day.

In 1979, NC State seemed to have Penn State beat, but Penn State converted a long fourth down with less than 20 seconds left, and then had just enough time, one second to be exact, to attempt and convert a 54-yard field goal to stun the Pack in Raleigh, 9-7.

NC State and Michigan State probably have a lot in common. Both have their moments of successes, more so in men’s basketball than other sports. Michigan State, to its credit, did make a surprising 2015 appearance in the College Football Playoffs under head coach Mark Dantonio.

Both are land-grant universities who have to deal with the in-state rival that probably dominates more of the attention than either school would care to acknowledge.

The two teams have not played each other much, but there are shared values and experiences.

Continuing with the land-grant theme, Cal is the western most such university among the three alliance leagues. NC State is almost the eastern most of the group (Maryland being the most eastern).

Plus, NC State has very little experience traveling to the state of California for a football game. It played at UCLA in 1959 and 1960, but has yet to play a Pac-12 team from there otherwise.

And for good measure, NC State could break out the block S helmets and make Cal feel like they are playing their archrival Stanford.

It could be called the “Herb Sendek Bowl.” Perhaps the former head coach of both institution’s men’s basketball teams could do the honorary coin toss.

The two teams have played before. Twice NC State made the trip to Arizona State, losing in 1960 and then winning in 1974. Then four years ago they met in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Tex., with a top-25 NC State team cruising to a 52-31 win against lame duck head coach Todd Graham.

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