BracketMatrix.com had NC State on 58 of 132 brackets for the NCAA Tournament, but ultimately the Wolfpack weren't selected to the "Big Dance" on Sunday.
NC State will play Hofstra at 7 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN2 at Reynolds Coliseum in the NIT. Hofstra went 27-7 overall and won the CAA regular season title with a 15-3 mark. However, the Pride lost 82-74 to Northeastern in the title game of their conference tournament.
Senior shooting guard Justin Wright-Foreman ranked second in the country with 27.0 points per game, trailing Campbell senior guard Chris Clemons. Wright-Foreman had 42 points in the CAA semifinals against Delaware, and also had 48 points and seven three-pointers in a win over William & Mary on Feb. 9.
“Obviously we’re very disappointed to not be selected for the NCAA Tournament, but we don’t have time to hang our heads and will begin preparing tonight for a very talented Hofstra team," NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. “I’m familiar with the Hofstra program from my time in the Colonial and they’ve had a great season this year. They’ve won 27 games and have the two-time CAA Player of the Year in Justin Wright-Foreman. It will be a great test for our team.”
The NCAA selection committee said St. John's was the last team in, who are playing Arizona State in the play-in game in Dayton. Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir, who was the NCAA men's Division Basketball Committee chair, cited that NC State had opportunities to win quad one games, but didn't win enough of them.
NC State head into postseason with a No. 33 NET ranking after going 22-11 overall. NCSU went 3-9 against Quadrant I squads and 5-0 against Quadrant II. The Wolfpack were also affected by having the No. 353 non-conference schedule in the country.
"They had so many opportunities but what did they do with those opportunities?" Muir said. "In some cases, like an NC State, they had great opportunities in Quad I and did not win them. That was a concern for us."
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