NC State’s full basketball schedule is out. Here are the can’t-miss matchups
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- Will Wade begins his first season with N.C. State under an 18-game ACC format
- Wolfpack faces nine NCAA tourney teams, including road games against Auburn, Clemson
- N.C. State plays UNC on Feb. 17 or 18 and Duke on March 2, both at home
Will Wade stepped onto the stage at Reynolds Coliseum at the end of March and promised N.C. State men’s basketball supporters he planned to be an ACC contender and NCAA tournament team in Year 1.
He said it wasn’t going to be a rebuild. There was going to be immediate improvement.
“It’s going to be a reckoning for the ACC,” Wade said. “It’s going to be a reckoning for college basketball, and it’s coming. It’s coming soon.”
Nearly six months later, the Wolfpack has its full schedule and a roadmap to that goal. The ACC released on Tuesday the conference schedule for all 18 teams. Midweek games do not have exact dates to provide flexibility with television designations.
The ACC returned to its 18-game conference format after five years of playing 20 league games. With the bloated conference, each team plays one protected rival and a variable opponent in a home-and-home series. Programs will play one game against the remaining 14 of 15 teams.
N.C. State’s schedule includes nine 2025 NCAA tournament teams, five of which are part of the nonconference schedule.
The Wolfpack opens the ACC season on either Dec. 30 or 31 (the ACC and ESPN will decide the exact date later) against Wake Forest, in the middle of its nonconference schedule.
Here’s a breakdown of N.C. State’s schedule.
NC State’s can’t-miss game
N.C. State at Auburn, Dec. 3: With this being Wade’s first season, most of the games can be considered “can’t miss.” One that sticks out, however, is the Wolfpack’s ACC-SEC matchup at Auburn. The Tigers are coming off a Final Four loss to Florida and looks to make a splash this season.
Bruce Pearl brought in transfers Kevin Overton (Texas Tech), Keyshawn Hall (Central Florida) and KeShawn Murphy (Mississippi State), all of whom are expected to be part of the starting lineup. The Tigers also return Tahaad Pettiford, who averaged 11.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3 assists per game last season.
This will also be a reuniting of Overton and N.C. State’s Darrion Williams who played together for the Red Raiders in 2024-25.
The Wolfpack is 0-2 in the ACC-SEC Challenge and playing on the road. This will be a tough test for Wade and his young squad.
Trap game alert
N.C. State at Clemson, Jan. 20 or Jan. 21: N.C State will face a Clemson team that lost Chase Hunter, Viktor Lakhin, Jaeden Zackery and Ian Schieffelin after the quartet exhausted its eligibility. The Tigers’ incoming class also ranks in the middle of the recruiting rankings. Brad Brownell, however, is coming off an NCAA tournament appearance and has made the Tigers an ACC contender the past several years. On paper, the Wolfpack likely has a stronger roster but Brownell is experienced and playing at Littlejohn Coliseum is often a challenge.
Toughest stretch for the Wolfpack
N.C. State’s toughest stretch will likely come in January, when the team is on the road for four of its five games. The Wolfpack will play at Boston College on Jan. 6 or 7 before heading to Tallahassee on Jan. 10 for a matchup at Florida State. The Pack briefly returns to Raleigh on Jan. 17 to play Georgia Tech.
N.C. State then heads back on the road to play Clemson (Jan. 20 or 21) and Pittsburgh (Jan. 24). It’s unclear how good these teams will be this year, but playing on the road is notoriously difficult in the ACC.
Easiest stretch for NC State
N.C. State purposely designed a difficult schedule, and some stretches can be defined as “easy.” In the Wolfpack’s nonconference schedule, the first month has multiple winnable games against mid-major programs. However, these are teams that have made the NCAA tournament in recent seasons. Wade said this season these are still highly competitive programs that are expected to be at the top of their respective leagues.
The Pack opens the ACC season at the end of December with Wake Forest, before hosting Virginia in January. This will likely be the easiest part of the conference schedule for N.C. State, because its stretch in late February and early March with more home than road games includes Miami, North Carolina, Duke and Stanford.
When does NC State play Duke and North Carolina?
Due to the new 18-game scheduling model, N.C. State will only play North Carolina and Duke once in the regular season.
The Wolfpack hosts UNC on either Feb. 17 or 18 and Duke on March 2 at Lenovo Center in Raleigh. It will not make return trips to the Dean Smith Center or Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils lost their entire starting lineup to the NBA, but the Duke staff brought in the top-ranked recruiting class, according to 247Sports rankings. The Blue Devils are expected to be a Top 10 team once again.
UNC, meanwhile, lost the majority of its production following the departures of RJ Davis, Elliot Cadeau, Ven-Allen Lubin (who transferred to N.C. State), Ian Jackson and Drake Powell. The Tar Heels, however, land at No. 5 in the composite recruiting rankings for this season.
Who are NC State’s home-and-away rivals for 2025-26?
Wake Forest was assigned as N.C. State’s protected rival and the two teams will play each other in Raleigh, on either Dec. 30 or 31, and in Winston-Salem on Jan. 31.
Virginia and N.C. State were assigned to the variable home-and-home series this season. The Cavaliers travel to Raleigh on Jan. 3, while the Wolfpack heads to Charlottesville on either Feb. 24 or 25.
(*)—Maui Invitational
(#)—ACC-SEC Challenge
(^)—Heritage game
This story was originally published September 9, 2025 at 4:13 PM with the headline "NC State’s full basketball schedule is out. Here are the can’t-miss matchups."
