GREENSBORO, N.C. — Syracuse basketball (15-8, 9-7 ACC) seeks to solidify its chances for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid when the Orange face the NC State Wolfpack (13-9, 9-8 ACC) Wednesday afternoon in an ACC Tournament second-round game.
The contest tips off just after 12 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum and will be televised on the ACC Network, available to subscribers of many cable and satellite TV packages. Sean McDonough, Cory Alexander, and Allison Williams are the announcing crew. You can also stream it through the ESPN app if you receive the ACC Network through your TV subscription.
The ACC Network channel numbers in the Syracuse area are as follows:
- Verizon Fios: Channel 571 (HD) & 71 (SD)
- Spectrum Channel 388 (HD & SD)
- New Visions: Channel 780 (HD) & 80 (SD)
- Dish Network: Channel 402 (HD & SD)
- DirecTV: Channel 612 (HD & SD)
Syracuse (No. 49 in the NCAA’s NET Ratings) revived its faded NCAA Tournament hopes with a pair of critical home wins last week over North Carolina and Clemson, two teams that will receive NCAA bids. The Orange have also received a significant amount of help via losses by other NCAA bubble teams in the last week. Now, Syracuse has moved all the way up to the first-team-out slot on Bracket Matrix, a site that aggregates more than 130 bracketologist predictions for the 2021 NCAA Tournament field. The Orange now need another win over the Wolfpack to try to get over the top and be included in the field.
NC State (No. 66 in NET) comes in hot, having won five straight games. However, their last-scheduled game last Saturday at Virginia Tech was canceled due to unspecified COVID issues in the Hokies program.
The Orange lead the all-time series against the Wolfpack, 9-6. Syracuse won both prior meetings this season — 76-73 at the Dome on Jan. 31 and 77-68 in Raleigh on Feb. 9.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) gives Syracuse a 52.1 percent chance of beating NC State. The sports analytics website TeamRankings.com says the Orange have a 53.8 percent shot of winning.