NC State Reveals Exciting Conference Slate For 2025-26 Season

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Since hiring Will Wade in March, the hype around NC State men's basketball hasn't stopped. The coach quickly assembled a roster of talented transfers to put the Wolfpack back on the map quickly.

Wade loaded the non-conference schedule with competitive matchups from November to January. The Wolfpack will play 13 non-conference games before starting ACC play in late December.

The conference finally revealed the full slate of games for the 2025-2026 season, with NC State scheduled to play 18 league games before the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina, in March. The conference made the move to 18 games after playing 20 league games for the last six seasons.

ACC Log — Mar 8, 2024; Greensboro, NC, USA; General view of the ACC logo before the game between Notre Dame vs Louisville at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-Imagn Images | David Yeazell-Imagn Images

The ACC Slate

Wade's first march through the ACC, one of the nation's most competitive men's basketball conferences, will begin just after the Holiday Break for the Wolfpack. The program will begin the season at home in the Lenovo Center with a two-game home stand, with Wake Forest visiting on either Dec. 30 or 31, and Virginia coming to Raleigh on the following Saturday.

NC State MBB Schedule — Schedule courtesy of NC State Athletics | NC State Athletics

There are some interesting caveats to the Wolfpack's 2025-26 ACC schedule that could benefit Wade's first-year roster.

After opening the season with the two-game home stand, the Wolfpack will be away from Raleigh for seven of its next 10 games, including long trips to Boston College, Florida State and Southern Methodist.

NC State will avoid any trips to face the former Pac-12 Bay Area schools during the conference season and will only face Stanford at home on March 7. With the move to 18 games, some teams, like California-Berkeley, won't be on the schedule during this conference season.

NC State - Duke — Jan 27, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack guard Jayden Taylor (8) lays the ball up in front of Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images | Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

The Wolfpack will get to face both its arch-rivals at the Lenovo Center rather than on the road. Wade gets his first crack at the North Carolina Tar Heels on either Feb. 17 or 18 depending on media scheduling. The Pack will face Duke at home in the second-to-last game of the regular season on March 2.

As for opponents with two games on the schedule, the Wolfpack will face Wake Forest home and away before February and Virginia home and away in January and February. The Virginia matchups will be between Wade, a former VCU head coach and Ryan Odom, a former VCU head coach as well.

Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; McNeese State Cowboys head coach Will Wade talks to his team during the second half of a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Wade and the Pack will have a bye week late in the season. NC State won't play a game between the North Carolina game on Feb, 17 or 18 and the game at Virginia on Feb. 24 or 25.

The conference schedule presents serious opportunities for Wade and his new program to make a push toward the top of the ACC standings in 2026. 15 of the now-18 ACC programs make the conference tournament at the end of the season. The Wolfpack missed the event in 2025 just a year after making the Final Four. Even so, the bar is much higher for Wade than it was for former head coach Kevin Keatts.

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