NC State was in the game Wednesday night in the sense that the players boarded a plane that traveled from Raleigh to Tallahassee, took a bus to the arena in which the game would be played, put on their uniforms, and stepped on the floor for basketball-type substance against another team, as the season schedule required.
In no other way was NC State ever in this blowout loss to Florida State—it was a 10-point margin in the Seminoles’ favor several minutes into the first half, and the Noles never had to look back when they had the luxury of doing whatever they wanted against the Pack’s incompetent defense.