RJ Young
FOX Sports National College Football Analyst
North Carolina State Wolfpack ranking: 30/134
[Check out RJ Young’s ultimate 134 college football rankings here]
Conference ranking: 4th in Atlantic Coast (+650 to win conference)
Teams ahead of them: Arkansas (29), Kentucky (28), Wisconsin (27), Miami (26), Iowa State (25)
Teams behind them: Nebraska (31), SMU (32), Maryland (33), Texas Tech (34), Louisville (35)
[North Carolina State 2024 schedule]
RJ’s take: Perhaps the most underrated coach in the entire ACC — if not on a short list across the country — Dave Doeren is synonymous with winning. In 13 years, he’s had just two losing seasons and won seven or more games 11 times. But one of the reasons Doeren’s name doesn’t get dropped for a better head-coaching spot than NC State and doesn’t come up when folks are getting fired is he has an ability to either start fast or close fast. He rarely has a team that can play at a high level all year.
In 2023, NC State started 4-3 before winning five in a row to close out the regular season. With Clemson and Tennessee making up two of their first four opponents, it might be a close fast kind of year in Raleigh but I’d be shocked if N.C. State didn’t finish with seven, eight or even nine wins, because that’s kind of what they do. They’ve only failed to win seven games once in the Doeren era and have never won 10.
North Carolina State Win Total Odds: Over 8.5 (-130) Under 8.5 (+110)
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