North Carolina State had a disappointing end to the college basketball regular season. The Wolfpack finished below .500 in ACC play, which dropped them into a No. 10-seed at the conference tournament.
No team in ACC Tournament history had ever reached Friday’s Semifinal round after beginning play on Tuesday.
N.C. State not only made history in doing so, a program that was not even projected to make the NIT prior to the week took it one step further. It won its first conference tournament title since 1987 with a massive upset win over UNC on Saturday to earn an automatic qualifier bid for March Madness.
Vibes were extremely high!
The Wolfpack became the first college basketball team to win five games in five nights since Kemba Walker led the UConn Huskies to a Big East title in 2011. They also made the Washington Wizards look absolutely terrible in doing so.
No. 10-seed N.C. State beat 15-seed Louisville on Tuesday, 7-seed Syracuse on Wednesday, 2-seed Duke on Thursday, 3-seed Virginia on Friday and 1-seed UNC on Saturday. All five games were played at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.
The Wizards have played 30 games at Capital One Arena this season. They won only four.
Think about that for a second! North Carolina State won more games at the Wizards’ home arena in five days than the Wizards have won at their home arena since October 25.
In doing so, the Wolfpack got their head coach paid.
Kevin Keatts was on the hot seat at one point during the regular season. At the very least, his seat was getting warm.
That is no longer the case after winning five games in five days en route to the NCAA Tournament!
Keatts’ contract included three unique provisions, including a $100,000 bonus for winning the ACC Tournament and at least $10,000 for making March Madness. He will also receive an automatic two-year contract extension through April 2030. It will include a $400,000 raise!