As memorable as last March was for North Carolina State, things haven't gone as smoothly this season. The Wolfpack have managed just a 12-18 overall record on the year and are just 5-14 in ACC play, good for 16th place in the 18 team league.

The problem (beyond the obvious) with that is that with Notre Dame's win over Stanford, North Carolina State is assured by tiebreakers to finish no better than 16th in the league. Because of only 15 teams making the ACC Tournament, North Carolina State will not qualify.

That means that North Carolina State's 2024-25 team is the first Division I team to fail to make its own conference tournament after winning it the previous season.

And although things were already leaning that way, it can thank Notre Dame for putting the icing on the now infamous cake.