Last week, NC State basketball announced its non-conference opponents for the 2021-22 season.
On paper, it's a smart, challenging schedule that should play well in the committee's eyes come March should NC State be in position for consideration to the NCAA Tournament.
Here is The Wolfpacker's rankings of the 11 opponents, concluding with 1-5.
Related link: Opponents 6-11 on the schedule
5. Wright State (Dec. 22)
Wright State has one of the more accomplished mid-major coaches in the country in Scott Nagy, who has 519 career wins over 26 seasons, all but the past five spent at South Dakota State. His teams have won at least 20 games in 16 of those 26 years.
Last year’s squad would likely have gotten there under normal conditions. They finished 18-6, including an impressive 16-4 mark to tie for the regular season title in the Horizon League, but then was upset in overtime in the conference tournament quarterfinals.
They lose the Horizon Player of the Year Loudon Love, but also return its next four leading scorers on a squad that was ranked 75th in the final NET and 73rd in the KenPom. They’ll need to be top 75 to be a quad two home game for NC State, and on paper it looks like it has a chance to be there.
