ACC Player Haterz Ball: N.C. State

Remember how you felt every time you were watching a Maryland road game over the past year and the fans started shouting "A-C-C! A-C-C!" in unison at the Terps? It's time for the Testudo Times crew to respond! Moving along alphabetically, it's time to take a look North Carolina State.

Player we couldn't help but like:

Pete: Russell Wilson. He led an incredible comeback against Maryland, sure, but he's one of the more exciting players I ever saw in the ACC -- with not much around him as support.

FlaTerp: Spud Webb. Just a super exciting little college guard who was so freakishly athletic that he went on to win the NBA's dunk contest at 5-foot-6.

Todd: Chastity (Chas) Melvin. For anyone who's at all familiar with women's basketball, I don't need to say anymore. And for everyone who's not, well, what's the point. On the other side, I have to say David Thompson. Hated him but the best college basketball player I ever saw.

Dave: David Thompson. He pretty much invented the alley-oop pass, so how can you hate anyone that has brought us one of the best/most exciting plays in basketball? Obviously, he had a big role in Maryland's loss to State in the 1974 ACC Championship game, but damn was he a good player.

Grant: Jimmy V. Yeah, he isn't a player and yeah I took the easy way out, but it is impossible to dislike Jimmy V. Each time I see his speech, his legacy is revived and what he's done for cancer research is remarkable.

Andrew: Never Pick State

Player we loved to hate:

Pete: Phillllip Rivers. Find a better answer than this one. You can't.

FlaTerp: Oh, I can, Pete. I can. Chris Corciani. How that guy didn't end up at Duke, I have no idea. He was a diminutive, fake-tough, Cobra Kai-looking guard who was basically the same guy as Bobby Hurley, only if Hurley went to a much lesser academic institution.

Todd: Monty Towe. Before there was Chris Corciani, there was Monty Towe.

Dave: I'll see your Phillip Rivers and raise you a Julious Hodge. That dude never seemed to graduate. He also used to battle it out in high school against...Mike Grinnon. True story.

Grant: I've spent three long days searching for a player I hate more than Philip Rivers but it can't be done. From coast to coast, his attitude never changed and neither did my feelings toward him. Sure he plays with a lot of fire and passion but he throws like a non-fooball player.

Andrew: Never Pick State

Game to remember:

Pete: November 30, 2013. Maryland's last ACC football game, and they demolished the Wolfpack. I watched the game in a hotel in Pittsburgh, and while things got a bit nerve-wracking after NC State took an early lead, C.J. Brown was in a complete groove and the win was really never in doubt after his two-touchdown first quarter performance.

FlaTerp: To be fair, I don't actually remember this game because I was 3, but it can't go unmentioned if we're saying so-long to the Wolfpack because for 20 years it was considered the greatest college basketball game ever played. The 1974 ACC Championship Game in Greensboro pitted the Elmore-McMillen-Lucas Terps vs. the Thompson-Burleson Pack, and they were widely thought to be the two best teams in the country except for the fact that conferences only got one bid to the tourney in those days. State beat Maryland 103-100 in overtime, then went on to win the natty. Maryland's 1974 team is the greatest team ever that missed the NCAA tourney.

Todd: Well, I was 20 in 1974, FlaTerp and that is a game to remember. Not only was it a game that had to be seen to be believed because of the stakes, the overtimes, and the tension but it was also a game that was played at at absurdly high level and one that certainly could put Tom Burleson on the hateable players list.

Also I can't forget the incredible string of football games that spanned 2000-2003. In Vanderlinden's last season, the Terps beat the Pack 35-28 in double overtime but trailed 21-6 at the half (Shaun Hill beating Phillip Rivers as a freshman). In Ralph's first year, The Terps go to Raleigh and Guilian Gary catches Hills pass in the last minute to give Maryland a 29-24 win and locks up the ACC Championship. Then in 2002, Nick the Kick Novak kicks a field goal with about 30 seconds to play for a 24-21 Maryland win then he did the same the next season, Maryland wins again 26-24 and Rivers goes 0-4 against the Terps.

Dave: There are two for me. The first was beating NC State in Raleigh in football to win the ACC title and Maryland fans throwing oranges onto the field to celebrate us securing our Orange Bowl berth. It was epic and awesome.

The second was March 13, 2004. Maryland 85, NC State 82. I was at the game with Maryland's pep band and Maryland was very much a bubble team. They beat Wake the day before and things looked reeeeally bleak for the Terps at halftime against the #2 seeded Wolfpack as Maryland trailed 45-26 at intermission. In the second half, they slowly chipped away and eventually scored 59 points in the half, 23 of which came from John Gilchrist, erasing State's 19 point lead and propelling themselves into the championship game against #1 seeded Duke.

Andrew: Never Pick State

Game to forget:

Pete: November 26, 2011. Wilson and North Carolina State put together the second-biggest comeback in ACC history, recovering from a four-touchdown deficit to ensure the Terps had their second 10-loss season in three years.

FlaTerp: I can't beat what Pete said. That game was a grease fire.

Todd: Well, I'll get back to what I know and go with a loss that's kind of fresh in my memory and that was in January of this year in Raleigh when NC State rallied from a 5 point halftime deficit to beat the women's basketball team 73-62 in a game when NC State was called for 10 fouls and Maryland shot precisely 1 free throw in each half.

Dave: Hey lets go back to that 1974 game. Yes, it was one of the greatest ever played, but it also kept one of Maryland's best teams ever from getting into the NCAA Tournament, denying Maryland a very realistic shot at another National Title.

Andrew: Never Pick State

Parting Shots:

FlaTerp: You know what sucks? Being the third-best and third-favorite team in your own city. That's what sucks.

Pete: It is true -- the only thing worse than being a non-Carolina team in an All-Carolina conference is being a forgotten about Carolina team in an All-Carolina conference. Wake Forest, we'll get to you later.

Todd: I hate the idea that I'm going to have to learn to use "Never pick State" in a completely different context.

Dave: Hey N.C. State, you're not the U.S. Army, so stop using "The Army Goes Rolling Along" as your fight song and try being original for once. Also, the U.S. Army is like the opposite of State; you ALWAYS pick The U.S. when it comes to things like World Wars, where they're undefeated.

Grant: Your new court looks ridiculous (I'm secretly a bit jealous).

Andrew: Never Pick State