What Does ESPN's BPI Say About Georgia Tech's Matchup Against NC State On Saturday Afternoon?

With three games left in the season, the Yellow Jackets will face off against NC State, a team that has had their number lately. The Wolfpack have won the last four outings against the Yellow Jackets including an 82-76 victory in 2024.

Georgia Tech picked up a big road win against Pittsburgh on Tuesday night thanks to Duncan Powell’s career-high 26 points. He also knocked down a career-high six three-pointers. Baye Nodongo was a monster on the glass for the Yellow Jackets finishing with 17 rebounds. He also added another double-double to his credit finishing with 11 points. Ndongo is beginning to put himself in the conversation for an All-ACC selection with his play as of late. The win got Georgia Tech back to .500 and put them in the driver's seat to land a top eight seed come ACC tournament time.

Shag Man. Bucket getter. 🪣#StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/uyWhfAEmaU
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) February 26, 2025

The Yellow Jackets also have a chance to accomplish a few milestones on Saturday. For one, they can get back over .500 for the first time since January 4th. Georgia Tech also can surpass its win total from a year ago with a win under head coach Damon Stoudamire, who has continued to have this team in a good position despite so many injuries. This past Tuesday night was the ninth different starting lineup the Yellow Jackets have had to use.

In terms of the game, Georgia Tech is currently a slight favorite at home against NC State with a 57% chance of winning the game. The Yellow Jackets have received a slight boost in ESPN's BPI climbing three spots in the ranking and are in position to achieve their 15-win projection.

NC State leads the all-time series with the Yellow Jackets with a 57-41 record. An area where Georgia Tech has the Wolfpack is at home sporting a 22-19 record. The matchup this year will be played at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta. Georgia Tech has also been tough to beat at home with a 12-5 record in McCamish. They have one of the best records in the ACC at home; only Duke, Louisville, Clemson, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Stanford, and Pittsburgh have a better record.

NC State is led this season by Marcus Hill who is averaging 12.1 points per game on 47% shooting from the field. He’s been held to single digits in his past three games for the Wolfpack but has been a go-to option for the vast majority of the season. A player that has been lighting it up has been Jayden Taylor who has scored 19 points in two of the past three games. The Wolfpack aren’t a great shooting team just shooting 32% from beyond the arc.

Another key area where the Yellow Jackets were good was from the charity stripe hitting 89% of their free throws which was a key catalyst in having them overcome runs in the second half by the Panthers. It has been a struggling area for Georgia Tech this season but if they can continue to hit their free throws at a high clip, they have a chance to be dangerous moving forward. Expect another top-tier environment at home for the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon with a couple of things on the line.

8-for-8 in the final four minutes 🧊#StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/WNwvPvnsSb
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) February 26, 2025

But what is BPI? Here is how ESPN describes it:

"The Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team's W-L record is to achieve. Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day's rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily."

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