12 pm.

Raycom Network affiliates or ACC DN/WatchESPN.

A little annoyed that the actual Raycom owned station in the Cleveland is opting for Virginia-Clemson for reasons that escape me.

This NC State team is actually good? It seems so strange to type that. I mean we’ve seen bad NC State teams. We’ve seen very talented NC State teams. But a very good NC State team? One that is well-coached, talented and focused? That escapes my memory.

Kevin Keatts has put together a solid squad. They are very good on offense and defense. And, oh, yeah. They are one of the most up-tempo teams in college basketball.

One of the things that really flustered Louisville — a team that is not that good on defense — was Pitt’s tempo. When Pitt did not waste time getting to the basket, they shredded Louisville. This NC State team does not have that issue.

Like Pitt, the Wolfpack is a guard-dominated offense, led by Torin Dorn. Hence, their up-tempo nature. NC State, though, does have a nice frontcourt rotation with Wyatt Walker, Jericoe Hellems and the awesomely named DJ Funderburk.

If Pitt is going to have a chance in this game, they will have to do the one thing they didn’t do against Louisville. Make free throws. Seems obvious, but NC State is not a team that gets to the line with great frequency. Pitt does, and is nearly a quarter of Pitt’s point production in games played to this point.

Pitt isn’t likely to pull an upset in this game. The Wolfpack has more experience and depth then Pitt. They are at home to boot.

The bigger question is how Pitt plays in this road game. They showed against Iowa that a hostile environment won’t fluster them. But they are coming off a big win for the team and the program. Emotionally, they could be coming down from that one.