Yesterday I happened to stumble across this tweet from Bucknell forward Nana Foulland, who appears to have leaked a portion of the Bison's schedule.
Going back to Jeff Dunlap's big board, from a now-deleted video on NC State's scheduling process, we know for certain that the Pack has a handful of guarantee game slots to fill for this season. Bucknell would be one of those.
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There also is the criteria that NC State's staff uses to evaluate and choose non-conference opponents, and by those standards, Bucknell is a natural fit.