# 1984–85 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team

The 1984–85 NC State Wolfpack men's basketball team represented North Carolina State University during the 1984–85 men's college basketball season. It was Jim Valvano's 5th season as head coach.
Two years after cutting down the nets in Albuquerque as NCAA champions, the Wolfpack returned to "The Pit" for first and second round action as No. 3 seed in the West region. NC State reached the Elite Eight before falling to St. John's, 75–67.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 24, 1984* | No. 13 | Campbell | W 94–54 | 1–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Nov 26, 1984* | No. 13 | UC Santa Barbara | W 93–70 | 2–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Dec 3, 1984* | No. 10 | Hartford | W 83–46 | 3–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Dec 5, 1984* | No. 10 | North Carolina A&T | W 101–54 | 4–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Dec 8, 1984* | No. 10 | Western Carolina | W 103–67 | 5–0 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Dec 15, 1984 | No. 9 | No. 12 Georgia Tech | L 64–66 | 5–1 (0–1) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Dec 19, 1984* | No. 14 | Saint Francis (PA) | W 82–64 | 6–1 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Dec 27, 1984* | No. 14 | vs. Rutgers ECAC Holiday Festival Championship | W 80–68 | 7–1 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| Dec 29, 1984* | No. 14 | at No. 5 St. John's ECAC Holiday Festival Championship | L 56–66 | 7–2 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| Jan 2, 1985 | No. 17 | at No. 19 Maryland | L 56–58 | 7–3 (0–2) | Cole Fieldhouse College Park, MD |
| Jan 5, 1985* | No. 17 | at Kentucky | L 62–78 | 7–4 | Rupp Arena Lexington, KY |
| Jan 8, 1985 | | Virginia | W 51–45 | 8–4 (1–2) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Jan 10, 1985 | | at Clemson | W 71–68 | 9–4 (2–2) | Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, SC |
| Jan 16, 1985 | | at No. 6 North Carolina | L 76–86 | 9–5 (2–3) | Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill, NC |
| Jan 19, 1985* | | Florida State | W 72–66 | 10–5 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Jan 23, 1985* | | No. 5 Duke | W 89–71 | 11–5 (3–3) | Reynolds Coliseum (12,400) Raleigh, NC |
| Jan 26, 1985* | | at Louisville | L 78–84 | 11–6 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Jan 30, 1985 | | at No. 8 Georgia Tech | W 61–53 | 12–6 (4–3) | Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, GA |
| Feb 2, 1985 | | at Wake Forest | L 64–91 | 12–7 (4–4) | Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC |
| Feb 6, 1985 | | Clemson | W 69–57 | 13–7 (5–4) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Feb 9, 1985* | | No. 4 Southern Methodist | W 82–78 | 14–7 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Feb 13, 1985* | | Maryland-Eastern Shore | W 90–51 | 15–7 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Feb 16, 1985 | | No. 13 North Carolina | W 85–76 | 16–7 (6–4) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Feb 20, 1985 | | at No. 6 Duke | W 70–66 | 17–7 (7–4) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, NC |
| Feb 24, 1985 | | at Virginia | W 57–55 | 18–7 (8–4) | University Hall Charlottesville, VA |
| Feb 27, 1985 | No. 16 | Maryland | L 70–71 | 18–8 (8–5) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| Mar 2, 1985 | No. 16 | Wake Forest | W 66–64 | 19–8 (9–5) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| March 8* | (3) No. 18 | vs. (6) Clemson Quarterfinals | W 70–63 | 20–8 | Omni Coliseum Atlanta, GA |
| March 9* | (3) No. 18 | vs. (2) No. 6 North Carolina Semifinals | L 51–57 | 20–9 | Omni Coliseum Atlanta, GA |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 15* CBS | (3 W) No. 16 | vs. (14 W) Nevada First Round | W 65–56 | 21–9 | The Pit Albuquerque, NM |
| March 17* CBS | (3 W) No. 16 | vs. (11 W) UTEP Second Round | W 86–73 | 22–9 | The Pit (13,833) Albuquerque, NM |
| March 22* CBS | (3 W) No. 16 | vs. (7 W) Alabama West Regional semifinal | W 61–55 | 23–9 | McNichols Sports Arena (17,022) Denver, CO |
| March 24* CBS | (3 W) No. 16 | vs. (1 W) No. 3 St. John's West Regional final | L 67–75 | 23–10 | McNichols Sports Arena (17,022) Denver, CO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 14 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | 18 | 16 |
| Coaches | Not released | 12 | 10 | 8 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 19 | 17 | 18 |