Rivals ranks NCSU class of 2009 at #13

From Rivals.com:

13. N.C. State
2009 commits (National rank)
PG Lorenzo Brown (43)
PF Richard Howell (51)
SG Scott Wood (126)

The Wolfpack love the I-85 pipeline down to Atlanta. After securing J.J. Hickson two years ago, Sidney Lowe and staff have mined Georgia hard for talent. The results have been positive in 2009 with Brown and Howell. Both should help from Day One. A mini Indiana connection is also growing. Last year, the team landed Julius Mays. This year, Wood is the latest Hoosier State player to head south to Raleigh.

Baseball Update thru 29 games

The Wolfpack have the #10 spot in the RPI with the #15 SOS while compiling a very respectable 20-9 record. Despite this, we are not currently ranked in any major college baseball poll. Here’s how we have performed thus far:

Record vs. RPI Teams
	RPI
1-50	7 – 6
51-100	6 – 1
101-200	3 – 2
200+	4 – 0

I went through and listed each team (the number of games) and RPI ranking. The dashed break indicates where we stand in the current schedule.

App State (3) – 87
Louisville – 114
NCAT (2) – 214
The Citadel – 80
Valpo – 263
UVa (3) -31
Quinnipiac – 280
Miami (3) – 2
Towson (2) – 131
Clemson (3) – 19
Marshall (2) – 116
UNC (2) – 4
ECU – 17
Elon – 35
Wake Forest (3) – 51
————————
UNCW – 20
Coastal Carolina – 21
Duke (3) – 75
ECU – 17
Radford – 199
VaTech (3) – 85
UNCG – 91
BC (3) – 40
Campbell – 226
UNCW – 20
Maryland (3) – 78
NCAT – 214
FSU (3) – 1

We have a challenging OOC Schedule remaining, but a not very challenging ACC except for the insane final match up with #1 ranked in the RPI Florida State.

Friday notables

ACC talk on Rivals.com
RPI watch: The conference rating continues to hold strong at No. 1, and for the first time in several weeks every team is ranked in the top 100.

Who’s hot: Courtney Fells has made 28-of-47 shots (59.5 percent) from the field and 13-of-24 3-pointers (54.2 percent) in his past four games.
Forbes Most Valuable College Basketball Programs

NC State’s basketball program, ranked 13th, is worth $13.6 million. With expenses of only $3.1 million, the lowest of any team on our list, the NC State Wolfpack earned a profit of $7.9 million last season.

Glennon rated No.1 prospect in Virginia

The Roanoke Times lists NCSU commitment Mike Glennon as the top player in the commonwealth of Virginia.

PDF – Top 25 Recruits flyer (very sharp looking with a huge photo of MG)

Wolfpack back in Top 25 / ACC – B10 Challenge

NC State is back in at number 24 in the latest AP Poll. Villanova has dropped out.

Yet, in the USA Today / ESPN poll, Villanova merely dropped from #19 to #21, and State remains unranked?!?! Even IF they watched the game and judge on that, wouldn’t one think both teams are equal? The score was 68-67 before the perhaps controversial foul at the end.

How big is the game Wednesday night gonna be?? #24 NCSU at #10 Michigan State! Spotlight game.

I implore everyone, pull for every ACC team in the Challenge. Come tourney time, these wins will matter. Yes, even pull for Carolina (or at least be impartial). For Carolina to lose would severely tarnish the image of the ACC. Trust me, we have much much more to gain from Carolina winning than losing. Also be pulling for Duke as the host #20 Wisconsin.

Wins: WF over Iowa (Monday), Clemson over Purdue, Virginia over NW, Duke over Wisconsin, BC over Michigan

Losses: Indiana over GT, Minnesota over FSU

Toss ups: NCSU – MSU, UNC – Ohio St, VT – Penn St., Illinois – Maryland

If the sure wins and losses hold true, we need 2 more wins to claim victory as a conference from the toss up games. Of course we are looking for State to upset MSU, but also look for Maryland to challenge Illinois. VT will probably lose to Penn State. If Maryland loses, we need UNC to win.

TUESDAY UPDATE: WF beat Iowa. VT will beat Penn State. That gives us a 6-2 edge on paper. Ballgame for the ACC. A Wolfpack win will be icing. Actually, icing, candles, party hats, favors, napkins, etc.

Love for the Ladies

From ESPN: 64 teams we like heading into 2007-08

22. NC State Last spring’s feel-good story — coach Kay Yow’s battle with cancer — could very well be this season’s most inspiring saga as well.