WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

Circus bumped N.C. State-Wake to Wednesday

By Dane Huffman

Feb 13, 2009

Raleigh, N.C. — If you’re wondering why the N.C. State home game with Wake Forest was played Wednesday night – right before the Duke-North Carolina game – then you can blame the circus.

The RBC Center had the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus through Sunday. Dave Olsen, general manager of the RBC Center, said the arena needed Monday and Tuesday to make ice for the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes had a game Thursday night, leaving only Wednesday available for N.C. State.

Karl Hicks, the ACC’s Associate Commissioner for Men's Basketball Operations, said the ESPNU could have elected to pick up the game but did not. He said ESPNU had four N.C. State games already and that might have been a factor.

ESPNU televised Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech, which began at 7 p.m.

N.C. State then elected to start its game at 7 p.m.

“If the game’s not on television, we leave it to the institution to set tip times for conference and nonconference games,” Hicks said.