An opportunity for a landmark win has arrived for Georgia Tech. Coach Nell Fortner’s 12th-ranked team will be on the road Monday evening to play No. 3 N.C. State, a game that’s pivotal in the Yellow Jackets’ hopes of winning the ACC regular-season title and also further establishing their credentials with the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
The 6 p.m. game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
At 9-2 in league play (18-4 overall), the Jackets are third in the ACC behind the Wolfpack and No. 4 Louisville, which are tied for first at 11-1. Were Tech to win Monday night, it would arguably be the most significant regular-season win of Fortner’s three-year tenure, rivaling the February 2020 win at N.C. State (then ranked fourth) and the December home upset of Connecticut (then third) along with the two road wins over Georgia, the first two in team history.
Dating back to the team’s inception, the Jackets’ 65-61 defeat of the Wolfpack in Feb. 2020 stands as the biggest road win in terms of AP ranking. (It, in fact, broke a 36-game losing streak against top-10 opponents.)
Among other things, it will be a meeting of the ACC’s leaders in scoring offense (N.C. State, at 76.3 points per game) and scoring defense (Tech, at 47.1 points per game, second in Division I through Saturday’s games).
It will not be a surprise if Reynolds Coliseum is sold out. N.C. State is ninth in Division I in attendance at 4,471 and enjoys perhaps the most vocal home-court advantage in the ACC. The Wolfpack are 12-2 at home this season and have won 14 consecutive home games in ACC play.
The game carries additional significance for NCAA seeding. Tech was left out of the selection committee’s top 16 ranking released on Jan. 27. Undoubtedly, the team’s NET ranking, 18th through Saturday’s games, was a factor. N.C. State is ranked second in NET and beating the Wolfpack on the road would provide a NET boost for Tech. It would, in fact, be Tech’s third win over a top-10 NET team, after the home wins over North Carolina (fifth in NET) and Connecticut (ninth).
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