The year 2020 will go down as one that most people will quickly try to put behind them as the clock hits midnight on Jan. 1, 2021.

For Wolfpack fans, however, 2020 hasn't been all that bad.

While NC State faithful would love to get back to Carter-Finley Stadium, PNC Arena and Reynolds Coliseum to cheer on the Pack, several of the university's athletic programs will be able to call this year a success based on their performances in competition.

The Wolfpacker decided to look back and rank the 10 biggest NC State athletics stories of 2020. Here is 1-5:

Notebook: NC State coach Kevin Keatts earns first home win over UNC

Christmas came early for Wolfpack fans in 2020. For just the third time since North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams was hired in 2013, NC State defeated arch-rival UNC at home.

The Wolfpack defeated the then-ranked No. 17 Tar Heels 79-76 in PNC Arena on Dec. 22, marking head coach Kevin Keatts’ first home win over the Pack’s most-hated nemesis.

Freshman guard Shakeel Moore’s season-high 17-point performance in just 15 minutes on the floor will be one that is remembered for a while, most notably for his jaw-dropping dunk over 7-1 UNC center Walker Kessler midway through the second half.

The Wolfpack win was the first meeting between the two schools to take place before New Year’s Day since 1979 in the Big Four Tournament in Greensboro.

This game had its own historic element to it due to the fact that it was played before a mostly-empty PNC Arena that permitted just essential personnel, families of players and limited media amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Getting to know Wolfpack Club Executive Director hire Ben Broussard

Ben Broussard was hired as the new executive director of the Wolfpack Club to replace Bobby Purcell, who served 33 years with the organization.

"Ben is a great hire for NC State and the Wolfpack Club," said Purcell in a released statement. "We've known each other for a number of years and I hold him in the highest regard. I think Ben is a terrific fit for NC State and I know our community is going to love getting to know him better in the years to come."

Broussard had previously been at LSU and most recently at Colorado since 2017.

Broussard oversaw all aspects of the Colorado athletic department's fundraising arm, the Buff Club, as Assistant Vice Chancellor of Advancement and Senior Associate Athletic Director.

"Early in this process Ben stood out, both based on his significant background and accomplishments, but also his vision for the Wolfpack Club and NC State Athletics," NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan said. "We're thrilled to have Ben join our team and lead our fundraising efforts. On behalf of NC State Athletics, we welcome Ben, his wife Dana and their three children to Raleigh."

Life as we knew it changed on Thursday, March 12. An avalanche of sports cancellations that day, including the ACC men’s basketball tournament in Greensboro, set the reality of what was to come in the following months of 2020.

NC State was set to play Duke in the conference tournament quarterfinals that afternoon in what would have likely been a “win and you’re in” game for the NCAA Tournament. Neither the game nor the NCAA Tournament would happen, and the season ended early and abruptly.

The men’s basketball team was far from the only program impacted.

The women’s basketball team had just won its first ACC Tournament championship in Greensboro Coliseum four days prior and would have likely been a two seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The wrestling team also won the ACC Tournament and has just completed an undefeated season. It too was never afforded the opportunity to compete for a national title, which likely would have produced multiple individual crowns.

Spring sports received an even shorter end of the stick. They were hardly able to begin their seasons before the remainder of their year was lost due to cancellations.

Notably, the baseball team opened the season 14-3 and appeared destined to host another College World Series regional with the potential to compete for an ACC title.

Even women’s soccer, a fall sport, was impacted by the pandemic and decided to opt-out of the 2020 season due to limited roster availability from travel restrictions and other circumstances.

While there are several positives for Wolfpack fans to take away from 2020, the pandemic left behind the unknowns of what could have been for several programs.

Following a disappointing 4-8 campaign in 2019, the football team defied the odds and proved the expectations of most wrong with an incredibly successful 8-3 regular season.

NC State was predicted to finish 11th out of 15 in the preseason ACC media poll and was projected to finish the year with a losing record by most that follow the sport.

Instead, the Wolfpack won a program-record seven conference wins to finish tied for fourth in the ACC. The Pack also won two games against then-ranked opponents at Pittsburgh and against Liberty.

NC State earned a bid to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl and will face Kentucky on Jan. 2 in Jacksonville, Fla.

Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren has now won at least eight regular season games in three of the past four seasons.

NC State women’s basketball joined the shortlist of the nation’s powerhouses after a 2020 which was one of the program’s best in history.

The Wolfpack won its first ACC Tournament Championship since 1991 with a 71-66 win over Florida State on March 8 in Greensboro Coliseum.

While the Pack was robbed of the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Tournament after the Big Dance was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was projected to earn a top-two seed as a leading contender to make the Final Four.

Many of the Wolfpack’s contributors in 2019-20 returned this season, and the team is already off to a blazing hot start in the 2020-21 campaign.

NC State is now ranked No. 3 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll after an 8-0 start, which includes three ACC wins.

The Pack’s most notable win to date this season was a road victory over then-ranked No. 1 South Carolina, ending a 29-game win streak for the Gamecocks. The 54-46 Wolfpack win marked the first program victory over a top-ranked opponent since 2007 and bumped NC State into the national top five.

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