NC State’s March Madness run carving space among Duke, North Carolina
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March Madness: NC State’s Cinderella run highlights Sunday action of Elite 8
The Elite 8 round of the NCAA Tournament is here and Mackenzie Salmon previews Sunday’s slate of games.
DALLAS — For the last 40 years, North Carolina State has arguably been the most difficult job in college basketball.
It’s not a resource thing because NC State has had more than enough to win. It’s not a fan base thing because this is one of the few schools in America that can regularly fill a 19,000-seat arena. And it’s not a history thing because NC State has had some of the sport’s most iconic teams and personalities, forever linked to Jim Valvano and one of the great upsets in the sport’s history to beat Houston for the the 1983 national title.
But for more than a generation, NC State has undeniably been the third wheel in a rivalry between Duke and North Carolina that largely defined college basketball from the mid-1980s all the way until Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final game against the Tar Heels at the 2022 Final Four.
In this case, three has truly been a crowd − and four fired coaches before Kevin Keatts have the scars to prove it.
“I think like any place, you have to carve your own space,” Keatts said on Saturday, one day before his Wolfpack team plays Duke with a chance to reach the Final Four for the first time in 41 years. “I’m into ‘Shark Tank,’ and I watch that show all the time. They talk about having shelf space and how do you get your product on the shelf?
“The one thing I always said when I took this job, I never wanted to be compared to Duke or Carolina. We do things a little bit different. I try to get our guys to be the best version of themselves and our program to be the best version of itself.”
For NC State, the last few weeks has shown all of us what that looks like. On March 12, the Wolfpack were a 17-14 basketball team playing on the first day of the ACC tournament − and trailing woeful Louisville at halftime.
A mere 17 days and eight wins later, NC State players were lined up on the court at American Airlines Center after beating Marquette, posing in an exaggerated shrug as if to say, “Why not us?”
Throughout this run for NC State, much of the focus has been on history and the potential parallels to 1983 when Valvano’s team won it all as an unlikely No. 6 seed. On Saturday, most of that talk turned to rivalry as the schools are just 25 minutes apart and have played each other 160 times in men’s basketball (Duke has a 96-64 edge).
“Growing up as a player and coach at Duke, you learn very quickly it’s the best area for college basketball,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said. “When you have the triangle, but then add in Wake Forest all within an hour of each other, I think that’s unique. We’ve always had big-time games against them.”
But realistically, there’s only been room for two at the top.
And the inability to hang in that tier with Duke and North Carolina has been a definitive part of…
Read More: NC State’s March Madness run carving space among Duke, North Carolina 2024-03-31 11:44:55