How Recent ACC Results Impacted the Wolfpack

While the 41-point loss to No. 24 Louisville will sting NC State for the next few days, there is no direction for the Wolfpack to move but forward. Will Wade and his team sat back and watched as the rest of the ACC plunged into relative chaos throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, creating windows of opportunity for the Wolfpack to continue its charge through the conference.

Losses for UNC and Clemson and close results for some of the other conference foes should have the Pack feeling a little better about its position, but not the effort it put forward against the Cardinals on Monday. On this episode of the NC State Insider Podcast, host and lead beat writer Tucker Sennett breaks down how other league results impacted the Wolfpack throughout the week.

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Will Wade on turning the ship around

While dejected and disappointed by such a lopsided loss to the Cardinals, the alarm bells didn't ring loudly for Wade. It marked the third game in less than a week for his team, including a short Saturday-to-Monday turnaround in which the Wolfpack played a physical Virginia Tech team before heading to Kentucky to face the Cardinals. He took responsibility for the performance.

"We just didn't play to our capabilities tonight. That's on me as the coach," Wade said. "I didn't have us prepared. I didn't have us as ready as I thought we were and that's on me, not on those guys. Those guys, for the most part, tried to do what we asked them to do and I didn't have a very good plan. I didn't have a very good pulse of our group tonight."

This isn't the first critical moment for the Wolfpack to respond. Earlier in conference play, NC State dropped an ugly game to Virginia at home. It responded by beating two of the weaker teams in the ACC on the road in Florida State and Boston College. Then came the disappointing Georgia Tech loss, which sparked the latest furious run through the ACC that saw the Pack fly up the standings into the top four. That's why Wade isn't overly concerned.

"It's not like the season ends tonight. It's one loss," Wade said after the latest loss to Louisville. "It's an embarrassing loss, it's a terrible loss, it's poor. But, it's one loss. It's not like you get three losses for tonight. We probably should, but you don't."

NC State and Will Wad — Dec 6, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack huddle with head coach Will Wade during the second half of the game against UNC Asheville Bulldogs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Wade and the Pack possess a major chance to turn things around and create some separation in the ACC standings. With the Miami Hurricanes arriving in Raleigh on Saturday, a win could push the Wolfpack as high as third place in the conference, depending on some other results, while also giving it a key tiebreaker against another team with hopes of finishing in the top four.

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