NC State to play in Jimmy V!!

Go ahead and make your travel plans for New York in early December because Debbie Yow and Mark Gottfried continue to deliver dreams to NC State fans that we feared were lost along with our national basketball relevance! Link

Texas coach Rick Barnes and NC State coach Mark Gottfried confirmed Jimmy V Classic matchups for Tuesday, Dec. 4 at Madison Square Garden. Texas will play Georgetown and NC State will play Connecticut. Texas has a terrific schedule again with an appearance in the Maui Invitational, hosting North Carolina (meaning the Tar Heels and Longhorns will be in opposite brackets in Maui), play UCLA in Houston and traveling to Michigan State.

NC State is the headline team in Puerto Rico in November, hosts Stanford and possibly will get Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on the road. The ACC is going to 18-league games next season, too, which improves the Wolfpack schedule with two games against Duke and Florida State as well as North Carolina.

In addition to all of the obvious things to LOVE about playing in the Jimmy V Classic, I particularly like THIS specific game for us as we get to play a national name, Big East opponent in a year that they should be pretty bad, or at least not nearly as good as their annual reputation.

NC State doesn’t necessarily ‘need’ another ‘Top 20’ style opponent next season as the blend of our pre-season ranking, ACC slate and overall scheduling difficulty (just with the names mentioned in the aforementioned quote) is more than acceptable. So, having the opportunity to be positioned to WIN a big game on the big stage over a big name couldn’t be more welcome!!

I guess we should look at the Jimmy V Classic like this — NC State defeated both Texas and Georgetown on neutral floors last season. So, their game is kind of the ‘losers bracket’ and we’ve already advanced to what we can call the championship 🙂

You can rest assured that there is NO WAY that I won’t personally be sitting Madison Square Garden on December 4th. In fact, SFN may even work host an event in the city around the game.

It has long been one of my ‘bucket list’ dreams to watch the Wolfpack on the MSG floor where I had one of the biggest emotional experiences of my life shortly after September 11, 2001 when the New York Rangers honored the New York Fire & Police Departments. I’ve lived in New York, worked in New York, met my wife in New York, got engaged in Central Park, and did my first big M&A deal with a company in the city. Now, I get to watch my Wolfpack play in perhaps the greatest venue in the country (other than Reynolds Coliseum, of course).

What can I say other than, THANK YOU to Debbie Yow and Mark Gottfried!

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12-13 Basketball

19 Responses to NC State to play in Jimmy V!!

  1. theTHRILL 05/02/2012 at 9:18 AM #

    Awesome. Really great news.

  2. STLPack01 05/02/2012 at 9:25 AM #

    StateFans, you make a compelling case. I’ve got friends in Brooklyn where I could easily crash. I’m going to see about coming as well.

  3. woofpack 05/02/2012 at 9:26 AM #

    I’m a 3 hour drive away, there’s no way I’m missing this!

  4. GAWolf 05/02/2012 at 9:31 AM #

    This is indeed awesome news!!!

    Fellow SFN poster Lumpy should open his house to all of us. With his new baby (congrats!) they stay up all night anyway. Ma! Meatloaf!

  5. IMFletcherWolf 05/02/2012 at 10:07 AM #

    This is outstanding! We’ve all been waiting for the ‘Pack to play in the Jimmy V and the time has come. I’m so there!

  6. Paramarine 05/02/2012 at 10:31 AM #

    I’ll see you there!

  7. pnasty21 05/02/2012 at 10:58 AM #

    Play UNC, Duke and FSU twice? 1. I thought this wasn’t going to work out with the 18 game schedule(less likely), 2. How does he know this now? and 3. That’s a dang difficult ACC schedule right there.

  8. UpstateSCWolfpack 05/02/2012 at 11:20 AM #

    Pack Insider reporting that Harris is transferring. Maybe the team knows what Jefferson is going to do?

  9. vtpackfan 05/02/2012 at 11:58 AM #

    Great matchups for neutral court games. Hopefully KU pans out.

    Maybe Jefferson comes aboard soon. If not, the defections are going to restrict our reemergence in BBall.9 schollies roster players with 3 to 4 being garaunteed of moving on at seasons end is a joke of program building unless your sure your Kentucky status.

  10. BJD95 05/02/2012 at 1:54 PM #

    Relevance has its benefits! Woohoo!!

  11. PackerInRussia 05/02/2012 at 2:13 PM #

    Glad we’re back in the Jimmy V Classic. It’s fitting. I remember being in it one other time (playing Gonzaga? Losing I’m pretty sure). Is that all?

  12. CHASSman 05/02/2012 at 6:37 PM #

    My wife is a UCONN grad so I can’t wait for this game. It’s a great opportuity to knock of a big name program.

    Is UCONN auditioning for a spot in the ACC?

  13. Prowling Woofie 05/03/2012 at 7:38 AM #

    Oh, please no ! If we have to take Boeheim, PLEASE don’t make us take Calhoun, too !!!

  14. Cosmo96 05/03/2012 at 7:58 AM #

    For those who are curious, the Puerto Rico tournament includes us, Penn State, Providence, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Massachusetts, Southern Mississippi, and Akron.

    I read on PP that the Kansas series had been moved back a year, so those games will happen in 2013 and 2014.

  15. BJD95 05/03/2012 at 8:00 AM #

    We already have two of the three biggest megalomaniac arseholes in college sports (K, Boeheim). No need to add the third, too.

  16. StateFans 05/03/2012 at 10:01 AM #

    UConn will be nothing (a) after Calhoun and (b) if they have to run a clean program

  17. Lumpy 05/03/2012 at 11:19 AM #

    “This is indeed awesome news!!!

    Fellow SFN poster Lumpy should open his house to all of us. With his new baby (congrats!) they stay up all night anyway. Ma! Meatloaf!”

    I have a strict rule about not having people I know solely over the internet stay at my house. But in all seriousness, I am still a licensed NYC tour guide. So If any of you are gonna make the trip up here and want to know any info on restaurants, shows, best places to stay, or where to drink, just ask away @chriswilkes1 on Twitter.

  18. 61Packer 05/03/2012 at 7:21 PM #

    I’ve never been to Madison Square Garden but would love to go someday. Without a doubt, it’s one of the premiere places to play, period.

    But………….since Jim Valvano coached here at State, and since we’ve had a basketball facility since 1999 that’s basically the same size as the Garden, WHY isn’t the Jimmy V Classic played HERE?

  19. RaleighBound 05/03/2012 at 10:30 PM #

    Well, it’s about time. It is utterly amazing to consider the sheer corrupt incompetency we suffered under before Woodson & Yow. I seem to be reminded of this fact on a monthly basis.

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