North Carolina State at UAB

The North Carolina State Wolfpack are a team on the improve. Just look at their last seven games posted as an underdog, where they have claimed the outright win in five of them - all against BCS, or big six conference teams. The fact is that this team is 10-0 on the season outside the power conferences, and by season's end were winning most games against the power conferences. The Blazers appeared destined for the big dance, before closing the season with two straight losses, then suffering a third straight, bowing out of the C-USA Tournament in game one. They just couldn't play with the good teams in the conference dropping two games each to Memphis and UTEP and also Marshall, and snuck out a 2-point win in their home game with Marshall. They aren't playing well right now, and NC State is playing with confidence and purpose, so I'll back NC State here.