As March comes to a close, many college fanbases have lost their championship hopes and dreams due to the cruelty of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. This sense of hopelessness is an annual trend for many teams, usually Purdue, where all of their hype and talk gets thrown out of the window by a mid-major school that has a fraction of the money and recruits. After losing their pride and joy within their schools, many people tend to side with a “hero” to help fuel their loss of competitiveness in their respective schools. From the opening tip-offs on Thursday afternoon, the upsets were slim. Many smaller schools were favored over larger programs, and many brackets were rolling smoothly. This will change, however, as Kentucky was set to play Oakland University, a small program in Detroit, Michigan. From the tip, guard Jack Golke would go on a shooting fest from downtown, dropping ten three-pointers and finishing with thirty-two points. This was going to be the man of March. As his brand deals piled in, he grew more and more famous, leading to many wondering how long the Golden Grizzlies would reign, but their matchup with North Carolina State was going to be tough. The Wolfpack was hungry and their complete package forward D.J. Burns (The Big Boy) was ready to be crowned as the true man of March. 

      Starting in 2023, the Wolfpack had many flaws and they showed throughout their non-conference season. Their embarrassing losses versus BYU and Tennessee led to many thinking it was going to be a rebuilding year for head coach Kevin Keatts. As they continued into the conference season, they slowly grew better and better but “found ways to lose”, per coach Keatts. When they finished their conference season with four straight losses, their hopes for March were slim but knew they had an ability to impress. Going into their conference tournament, they were seeded tenth and had to play all rounds and win five straight games to have a chance at dancing in March. Their dominant wins versus Louisville and Syracuse showed some sound basketball that was the well-rounded game they knew they could play. 

     Their next stretch was difficult but J.D. stepped up to the plate and hammered the Duke and Virginia defenses in close wins to put them in the ACC Conference Championship against in-state rival, the University of North Carolina. The UNC team they were playing was smart, athletic, and sound with former National Champion, Armando Bacot, and senior RJ Davis, who averaged twenty-one points a game for the Tar Heels, per ESPN. Being down at halftime, the Wolfpack punched a second-half pulse on offense to take down the Heels, 84-76. NC State had just completed the impossible, winning five games in five days to take home the ACC Title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The people knew of their power, but the doubters continued. Many wondered, “When will they get tired?” and implied that Cinderella Stories do not last forever. 

     Entering the tournament as an eleven-seed, NC State had a tough road ahead of them, but they knew they had the ability to shock the world. As they rolled into Pittsburgh their minds locked in and they took down the Red Raiders of Texas Tech 80-67, where D.J. Burns dominated the paint and brought down sixteen points. This game was a warm-up for their first challenge, the Golden Grizzlies. The people’s team started off hot against the Wolfpack, keeping it close down to the wire. Oakland’s lack of experience showed, however, where NC State would dominate in overtime to take home a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. Rolling onto Dallas, D.J. Burns gained more and more popularity and his game against the Marquette Golden Eagles only helped his case. With over twenty-seven misses from the three-point line and the lacking ability to stop Burns, Marquette would choke their historic run and NC State would be in the Elite Eight. Their height continued here as they would dominate Duke in astounding fashion, despite Tik-Tok star Jared Mccain’s efforts. NC State has made the Final Four as an eleven-seed, which is nothing new to the Wolfpack as they won a national championship in 1983 as a six-seed, under famous coach Jimmy V. 

     NC State is set to play the crashing Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday, where D.J. Burns will meet “Mr. Foul” himself, Zach Edey. If NC State can keep control of the perimeter and stay away from foul trouble, then they can run away with this Final Four victory, but the sloppiness they had in the regular season will lead to a long long night for the Wolfpack. Whether they win or not, this is a very special run for NC State, which proves that belief is a key role in success and every basket they have made has led to this. The rebuilding of a program is upon us and their “little-brother” status in North Carolina is fading as long as the Wolfpack keep winning. Hopefully, their reign continues through this final weekend, but everyone knows the magic of March is unpredictable. Will the Wolfpack keep winning? Only fate knows.