It's been a hellacious year for Wolfpack Nation. Post season turmoil has been abundant. And I'm not talking about the Men's basketball team being so terrible that even the CBI wouldn't touch them. I'm talking about the teams that actually had on-field/on-court success, and then were hit with some very questionable and unfortunate circumstances.
We all remember the "Omaha Screwjob" during the 2021 College World Series. The infamous 2am tweet from the NCAA alerting everyone that NC State was to be removed from the tournament for Covid issues...while simultaneously bragging about sellout, capacity crowds. It was a bungled, cluster of incompetence.
Next we had the Holiday Bowl cancellation when UCLA picked up their ball and went home, robbing the Pack of a shot at 10 wins. The NCAA ruled it a no contest.
The juggernaut Women's Basketball team had a stellar year and earned a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament...only to be placed in a region with 2 seed UCONN...in Connecticut. It was a home game for the 2 seed in an area where they haven't lost a tournament game since the 90s. Nice reward for being a 1 seed for the Lady Wolfpack.
This brings us to today: Selection Monday for the College Baseball NCAA Tournament. Virtually every College Baseball publication had the Wolfpack as a projected 2 seed for Regionals, following a good ACC tournament run with wins over eventual 2 seed Wake Forest and regional host 1 seed Miami. The Pack made it to the ACC Championship game, falling to UNC 9-5.
On the other hand, UNC was selected as a regional host 1 seed following a very impressive conference tournament run (and rightfully so). However, if conference tournament success is being named as a reason for the Heels jumping teams ahead of them to be a host site, why isn't the same being done for the Wolfpack to simply make the tournament.
NC State wasn't considered "on the bubble" in the last week by virtually anyone. D1 Baseball's Kendall Rogers, one of the best in the business for College Baseball coverage, was shocked at the Wolfpack snub.
And he's right. NC State had the no. 33 RPI and an aggregate 17-16 ACC record--a league that sent 9 teams to the tournament. The Pack9 also had a 4-2 record against teams that were selected as top 8 National seeds.
On the other hand, Ole Miss made the tournament. The committee chair basically said it came down the Pack9 or the Rebels. Ole Miss got the nod with the no. 39 RPI and less wins against teams that were designated as host teams than NC State had. As Aaron Fitt said, the ACC really has been hurt by having no representation on the committee.
It's time for everyone to stop denying reality: The NCAA hates NC State. There's a pattern here across multiple sports. The 2022 Pack9 got hosed, just like the 2021 Pack9, 2021 Pack Football, and 2022 Wolfpack Women's Basketball squad.
Dave Doeren said it best: The NCAA stands for No Clue At All.