North Carolina State enters this fall with a pretty solid football team. The Wolfpack return their quarterback, their three leading pass-catchers and several key defensive players from a team that went 7-6 in 2016 and won the Independence Bowl. They just missed out on the top 25 in both the preseason AP and Coaches polls. Not bad at all.
Still, it seems like a tiny bit of a stretch to pick NC State to make the College Football Playoff, as SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic did Friday.
My FINAL @CFBPlayoff picks:
Alabama
Ohio State
Stanford
NC State— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) August 25, 2017
Naturally, a whole bunch of people jumped to question the sanity (or the motive) of Cubelic’s pick.
You accidentally typed "NC State". It happens. We all make mistakes…
— Mike Ferguson (@MikeWFerguson) August 25, 2017
Why did @colecubelic pick NC ST to make the CFB Playoff?
— Freezing Cold Takes (@OldTakesExposed) August 25, 2017
But hey, it’s easy to criticize someone for an opinion you don’t agree with, knowing you’ll never be held accountable if you wind up being wrong. That’s why we have to applaud Louisville radio host Mark Ennis, who added some stakes to his skepticism by tweeting that he would “eat a live animal” if the Wolfpack make the College Football Playoff.
I'll eat a live animal if NC State makes the playoff. https://t.co/vB0s6jSH9E
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) August 25, 2017
That’s quite a promise! It’s like when Rick Reilly had to lick the Capitol Dome in Denver because the Rockies made the playoffs, except that eating a live animal sounds way worse. Imagine a gerbil or something crawling around in your mouth!
Now, in all likelihood NC State will in fact not make the Playoff and Ennis will never get a chance to put his, um, mouth where his mouth is. But if you’re the type of person who likes to see people suffer for their hubris, you’re gonna want to root for the Wolfpack this season.
