North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: A Low Profile
5/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
May 18, 2004
By Tony Haynes
With a high profile player like Philip Rivers no longer on its roster, NC State will apparently take a low profile into the 2004 football season. Maybe that's not such a bad thing. If you turn the clock back to 12 months ago, those meaningless released-before-spring-is-over preseason football polls cited NC State as a team to watch in 2003. The hype generated the loftiest expectations in school history, while also creating the perception that anything short of a championship and BCS bowl berth would leave the Wolfpack with a disappointing season.
As we now know, the Pack was often referred to by some as the most disappointing team in the ACC after finishing fourth in the league with a 4-4 mark and an 8-5 record overall. Of course, one could also make the case that NC State was two untimely fumbles in its last two games away from tying Florida State for the league crown.
If nothing else, that perspective reminds us that the difference between disappointment and euphoria can often be separated by the width of a termite's tooth.
Rivers, of course, was the main reason last year's Wolfpack team received so many preseason plaudits. Ignoring the fact that NC State had the unenviable task of replacing its entire defensive line, many of the prognosticators labeled the Wolfpack as the team to beat in the ACC.
One-year later, ironically, Rivers is again the biggest reason the Wolfpack is being overlooked in the early national college football previews that have been released thus far. Athlon Sports, which seemingly likes to come out with preseason football polls before seasonal Easter egg hunts, has already placed Florida State (9th), Clemson (13), Maryland (20) and Virginia (25) in its top 25. And by the time the online magazine gets around to releasing its top 10, future Wolfpack opponent and new ACC member Miami will likely be right near the top.
The combination of Rivers' departure along with a schedule that can only be described as brutal, has the college football forecasters running away from NC State faster than a 'Dead Head' hits the off button on his radio when a Clay Aiken song comes shrieking through the car speakers.
The premature nature of early college football rankings serves their purpose by generating discussion about the sport at a time when spring practices are over and preseason workouts are still a good two months away.
Schools web sites like this one are also fond of spring football polls. Virginia's site, Virginiasports.com, hailed that school's preseason ranking in a pair of polls. Clemson's official site did the same.
Touting the fact that national publications like your football team is certainly something that should be taken advantage of. We at Gopack.com should know. Last April, this site proudly pounded its chest when SI.com had NC State ranked 6th in its preseason top 25.
Columnists like Ivan Maisel and Tony Barnhardt write football stories with great expertise 12 months a year. As we speak, both could probably tell you who is slated to become Montana State's back-up deep snapper in 2005.
A long, hot summer is at hand, so it's nice to know that others are also eagerly anticipating those magical fall Saturdays that, at this moment, seem so far away. Before you know it, however, the newspapers and web sites will be filled with stories about the Wolfpack's impending quarterback battle and Mario Williams' emergence as a stud defensive end.
The stories will be there, but the same preseason hype won't be.
