For the fourth consecutive year, NC State is in what head coach Mark Gottfried refers to as "The Greatest Show on Earth," otherwise known as the NCAA Tournament.

The Pack learned Sunday evening that they have earned an eight seed in the East Region and will play ninth-seeded LSU from the Southeastern Conference in Pittsburgh on Thursday at a time to be determined. The winner will likely face top-seeded Villanova, the Big East regular season and tournament champs who will be heavily favored over 16th-seeded Lafayette.

LSU went 22-10 this year and finished 11-7 in the SEC. They played their way into the big dance on the strength of road wins at Arkansas and West Virginia. They also gave undefeated Kentucky one of its biggest scares of the year before falling 71-69 at home.

NCSU lost in New York to West Virginia this year. The other common opponents between the two squads were Clemson and Tennessee. Arkansas lost on a neutral floor to the Tigers while NCSU split games between them, both times the road team emerging victorious.

LSU similarly split a home-and-home with UT, both times the visiting squad winning. NCSU defeated Tennessee 83-72 at home.

The star of that Wolfpack win over the Vols was fifth-year senior wing Ralston Turner . He hit eight threes in the win. Turner is one of the more obvious storylines for Thursday's contest. He played his first two years for LSU before transferring to NC State.

This will be the first meeting between the two programs. Ironically they are both scheduled to participate in next season's Legends Classic at the Barclay Center in New York on Nov. 23-24 along with Arizona State and Marquette.