In our new weekly feature for The Wolfpacker, we will recap each week with a 3-2-1 column of observations and thoughts from the week that was and is ahead for NC State athletics.
Three General, Uplifting Observations
1. For whatever reason, NC State owns Pitt. The Panthers joined the league in time for the 2013-14 ACC season, and probably the last thought on their mind was that it would be, from a win-loss perspective, so uncompetitive against NC State, of all teams.
Former NC State director of athletics Debbie Yow used to refer to football, men's and women's basketball and baseball as the "big four" on campus. The first time NC State faced Pittsburgh in one of them was actually the Panthers' first ever men's basketball game in the league. Then head coach Jamie Dixon's squad won at PNC Arena in Raleigh, 74-62.
Later that year, NC State got its revenge, the first of what is now a 12-game winning streak for the Pack against Pittsburgh in men's basketball, two of them occurring in the ACC Tournament.
The only other win by Pitt over NC State since it joined the ACC in one of the big four sports was a victory for their women's basketball team in 2015.
After last weekend's sweep of the baseball team at Pitt, its fourth straight against Pittsburgh, NC State improved its collective record against the Panthers to 33-2 in conference action in football, men's and women's basketball and football. That includes two wins by the football team, both at Pittsburgh.
For good measure, NC State has even won a pair of NCAA Tournament games that were played in Pittsburgh, memorable victories over LSU and Villanova to reach the second of two Sweet 16 appearances under former head coach Mark Gottfried.
2. There is more evidence to show how well swimming's recruiting is going. We used SwimSwam.com's for a story this week on the Pack's elite 2021 recruiting class for men's swimming. Using their rankings from April 2020 for the class, NC State had five of the top 18 prospects nationally, and that does not include international star Noe Ponti, who would rank that high if SwimSwan.com rated swimmers outside the country.
CollegeSwimming.com does, and it has Ponti in a tie for No. 8. Furthermore Aiden Hayes, Sam Hoover and Arsenio Bustos are all part of a six-way tie for the top swimmer in the country. In a nutshell, that's four of the top 10 swimmers. Texas had three for next most.
The kicker: this is not a one-off. Three of the top 10 in CollegeSwimming.com's class of 2022 rankings are also committed to the Wolfpack.
1. Could baseball become a one seed in the NCAA regional? It cannot host, as the NCAA has already announced the 20 potential hosting sites for the 16 that will ultimately be chosen. That does not mean that the Pack could not end up being the top seed in one of those regionals.
If the Pack could secure a series win over Florida State, that would be the logical first step. Then would be emerging from the pod play in the ACC Tournament to reach the semifinals. A series win over FSU and a trip to the conference title game, when combined with the remarkable stretch of baseball NC State has had since it began the year 1-8 in the ACC and 5-9 overall, may be enough to warrant that top seed.
It's unlikely that East Carolina is going to lose a hold on its top seed and hosting site in Greenville, but could the Pack catch Charlotte, who was also selected to potentially host. The 49ers have lost three of its last four games.
