NC State vs. Notre Dame: College basketball game preview, TV schedule

Notre Dame and NC State look to battle it out in South Bend on Wednesday night. Will the Irish start out 2-0 in league play?

TV schedule: Wednesday, Jan. 3, 9:00 p.m. ET. ACC Network

Arena: Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Indiana

It’s a brand new year, which means more eyes are starting to focus on college basketball season. That also means that Bracketology will be coming more into play.

Everyone is coming out with their own bracket predictions, and we here at Busting Brackets are no different, with our first edition coming out just recently. The ACC itself received eight bids, tied with the SEC for most bids given.

One of the most controversial choices was the exclusion of Notre Dame 10-3 (1-0), who has one of the best possibly wins to have — over a top 10 Wichita State Shockers team in the Maui Invitational final.

But a deeper look at the Irish’s resume and the decision makes sense. As great as the Wichita win was, the home loss to Ball State was just as bad. Then look at the next best win, which is….either LSU, Georgia Tech, or DePaul, who each are expected to finish at the bottom of their leagues.

But Notre Dame fans don’t need to worry too much, as the ACC provides a ton of great opportunities. One of them won’t be NC State 10-4 (0-1), who got whacked by Clemson the last time out and likely will be near the bottom of this league.

That doesn’t mean that the Wolf Pack aren’t talented, with Baylor grad transfer Al Freeman and Charlotte transfer Torin Dorn the leaders for first-year NC State head coach Kevin Keatts’ revamped roster.

Next: Missed chances a theme in latest ACC power rankings

The Irish need to get some good wins soon, but also need to avoid potential bad losses like this one at home.

UPDATE: This will be Notre Dame’s first game without star senior Bonzie Colson, who will miss the next eight weeks with a stress fracture in his left foot.

NEW Prediction: NC State 75 – Notre Dame 68