Gainey's Wolfpack Face Barnes' Vols in Nashville

0:00On April 22nd, NC Stateman's basketball just locked in a neutral cyclash with Tennessee and Nashville for the 2026-27 season. It's a non-conference showdown pitting first-year Wolfpack head coach Justin Gainey against his old boss, Rick Barnes of the Volunteers. Both squads are deep into building their rosters right now, and this matchup makes perfect sense for boosting their metrics and net rankings with some. High major action early on. Titans couldn't stop hyping Gainey when he took the NC State job back in March, calling him a North Carolina native with deep Wolfpack roots, a star. Player there, and one of the best coaches around, who gets players in the NIL game. Tennessee's sitting pretty with the number 3 recruiting class, number 4 in transfers, and key pieces from their Elite 8 run last year. Gainey's already nabbed a top 25 transfer class with more coming. This slots into NC State's non-con schedule alongside road trips to VCU, a neutral site tilt with Ole Miss near Oxford, and at least 3 SEC foes.

1:03Through the ACC-SEC challenge, setting up a tough early test for Gainey's crew.