NC State releases nonconference basketball schedule for Will Wade’s first year

First-year N.C. State head coach Will Wade promised at his introductory press conference he wouldn’t shy away from scheduling top-tier opponents and Hall of Fame-caliber coaches.

His first nonconference schedule lives up to that. ​

The nonconference slate features five 2025 NCAA Tournament teams — Auburn, Kansas, Liberty, Ole Miss and VCU — and its remaining opponents made a March Madness appearance at least once since 2019. ​

The Wolfpack opens the season on Nov. 3 against N.C. Central for the first game since the 2013-14 season. The Wolfpack is 4-1 in the all-time series. ​It also hosts UNC Greensboro on Nov. 12 and UNC Asheville on Dec. 6 at Lenovo Center to complete the trio of in-state contests.

“I think it’s important for our fans that we play as many of those local teams as you can,” Wade said in July. “Those [teams] call and want to play, we’re going to play. I think it makes sense. If we’re going to ask fans to come to Lenovo, we’re going to ask fans to come to the games, we at least need to have teams that they’re familiar with.”

Wade faces VCU, where he previously coached, at Lenovo Center on Nov. 17. He served as an assistant coach from 2009-13 and returned as the head coach from 2015-17. ​

It has four neutral games. Notably, the team heads ​west to Hawaii where it’ll participate in the Maui Invitational. The field includes Arizona State, Boise State, Chaminade University, Seton Hall, Southern Cal, Texas and Washington State. It will play Seton Hall on Nov. 24, with its other two opponents to be determined. ​

The Pack is also set for a nonconference tilt against Ole Miss at Greensboro Coliseum on Dec. 21. This will be the second time in three seasons that the programs have played each other. ​

N.C. State heads to Neville Arena on Dec. 3 to take on Auburn in the ACC-SEC Challenge. The Wolfpack is 0-2 in the first two seasons, falling at Ole Miss and against Texas last season. Auburn earned a spot in the 2025 NCAA Tournament Final Four after beating all of its regional opponents by at least two possessions. ​

Kansas, facing every Triangle team in back-to-back seasons, comes to Raleigh on Dec. 13 for the second half of its regular season series. Last year the Wolfpack traveled to Lawrence, where it lost to the Jayhawks, 75-60. ​

The Pack hosts Liberty on Dec. 10 and Texas Southern on Dec. 17. Texas Southern will play as part of the team’s annual Heritage game at Reynolds Coliseum.

“I feel good about our schedule. It’s gonna be tough,” Wade said. “It’ll be a tough nonconference schedule, but the league’s only going to give us so much right now. We can sit here and complain about this and that. They tell us on the front end who the teams are we’re playing. You can project out how many of those games are going to be Quad 1, Quad 2, Quad 3. Then you know what an average NCAA Tournament resume looks like, and how many Quad 1, Quad 2, Quad games they play. Then you just do simple addition and subtraction. The league’s going to get us seven. We need 12. We gotta go get five. It’s simple.” N.C. State is reportedly playing South Carolina in Greensboro for an exhibition.

With the ACC moving back to an 18-game scheduling format, the Wolfpack’s conference schedule features seven home opponents, seven road opponents and two home-and-away games. ​

N.C. State welcomes Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Stanford, Syracuse and Virginia Tech to Raleigh. ​

It plays at Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pitt and SMU for its road-only games. ​

The Wolfpack’s protected rival is Wake Forest, while its rotating rival for the 2025-26 season is Virginia. It will play at Lenovo Center and on the road against both teams. ​

N.C. State features one of the best incoming classes in the country, ranking in 247Sports’ national Top 15 for transfers and high school recruits. It snagged five-star freshman Matt Able, Top 10 transfer Darrion Williams from Texas Tech and in-Triangle steal Ven-Allen Lubin from UNC.

NC State nonconference schedule

(#) — Maui Inviational, Lahaina, Hawaii (*) — ACC-SEC Challenge (^) — Heritage game at Reynolds Coliseum

This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 5:09 PM with the headline "NC State releases nonconference basketball schedule for Will Wade’s first year."

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer