NC State basketball achieved another first under Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts as it finished the season ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press Top-25 poll on Tuesday afternoon, the team’s first ranking of the season.
The Wolfpack, which won nine straight games to reach the Final Four for the first time since 1983, had not closed a season inside the AP poll under Keatts until this year. The last time the red and white did so was when it was No. 15 in the final poll of the 2003-04 campaign under Herb Sendek.
NC State’s magical season came to a close in the Final Four with a 63-50 loss to top-seed Purdue at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., but that came after it won the ACC Tournament title for the first time since 1987.
The Pack needed the conference crown to reach the Big Dance, where it proved it belonged. NC State knocked off Texas Tech, Oakland, Marquette and Duke on its way to college basketball’s biggest stage.
Since NC State was ranked inside the top 10 in the final AP poll, Keatts earned another $100,000 bonus. That brings his final bonus total to $400,000 this postseason, which is due to be paid by June 30. His full bonus and raise structure from the Final Four run is available here.
NC State also checked in at No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches Poll on Tuesday afternoon.
Here’s a look at the complete Associated Press Poll, the final edition of the 2023-24 season:
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