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2025 NC State Football Preseason Predictions + Week 1!!
- Essad Malik
- Aug 27
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 4
Intro
The 2025 NC State football season is nearly upon us! The TRT crew has gone through each game on the schedule and given their best guesses on how they think each game will shake out this year. The football team gets 12 opportunities to prove themselves on the field, and we (and the ESPN analytics bot) get 12 opportunities to prove how good we are at predicting said games. Let's get started!
Schedule | ESPN Predicto-Bot | Alec Lower | Essad Malik | Trey Lower | Jackson Williford |
Week 1 (Thu, 8/28) vs ECU | 69.7% - 30.3% (W) | 37-24 (W) | 28-20 (W) | 24-20 (W) | 38-21 (W) |
Week 2 (9/6) vs UVA (Non-Conference) | 64.2% - 35.8% (W) | 29-24 (W) | 27-19 (W) | 23-16 (W) | 31-24 (W) |
Week 3 (Thu, 9/11) vs WtFU | 66.7% - 33.3% (W) | 33-7 (W) | 17-20 (L) | 35-20 (W) | 35-20 (W) |
Week 4 (9/20) @ Duke | 37.3% - 62.7% (L) | 23-35 (L) | 13-37 (L) | 14-28 (L) | 21-28 (L) |
Week 5 (9/27) vs VT | 37.3% - 62.7% (L) | 34-41 (L) | 27-24 (W) | 35-31 (W) | 28-24 (W) |
Week 6 (10/4) vs Campbell | 99% - 1% (W) | 50-10 (W) | 42-17 (W) | 63-7 (W) | 45-14 (W) |
Week 7 (10/11) @ ND | 9% - 91% (L) | 13-42 (L) | 10-37 (L) | 0-35 (L) | 14-38 (L) |
Week 8 (10/25) @ Pitt | 46.8% - 53.2% (L) | 35-28 (W) | 24-28 (L) | 20-21 (L) | 31-35 (L) |
Week 9 (11/1) vs GT | 42.2% - 57.8% (L) | 31-24 (W) | 23-21 (W) | 30-27 (W) | 30-31 (L) |
Week 10 (11/15) @ Miami | 16.6% - 83.4% (L) | 42-45 (L) | 37-31 (W) | 21-45 (L) | 21-38 (L) |
Week 11 (Fri, 11/21) vs FSU | 62% - 38% (W) | 23-20 (W) | 24-22 (W) | 28-17 (W) | 34-31 (W) |
Week 12 (11/29) vs unc | 58% - 42% (W) | 84-2 (W) | 17-37 (L) | 93285 - -234 (W) (yes, that's a negative score) | 28-27 (W) |
How well do these predictions add up for the whole season?
ESPN Predicto-Bot | Alec Lower | Essad Malik | Trey Lower | Jackson Williford | |
Predicted Record | 6 - 6 | 8 - 4 | 7 - 5 | 8 - 4 | 7 - 5 |
Predicted Conf Record | 3 - 5 | 5 - 3 | 4 - 4 | 5 - 3 | 4 - 4 |
And now, on to our Week 1 predictions!
Week 1 vs Western, I mean Eastern Carolina - Thu, 8/28/25
For the season opener, just cross out the "W" for "E" and the opponent might look the same. The TRT staff was unsurprisingly in sync with how the game would turn out. We are most excited about the return of Hollywood Smothers and CJ Bailey, and with the new coordinators on both sides of the ball.
Name | Prediction | Comments |
ESPN Predicto-Bot | 69.7% - 30.3% (W) | Nice. |
Alec Lower | 37-24 (W) | This could go a lot of ways, but I think State runs the ball well, CJ makes a couple of big throws, and the defense creates a couple of drive-killing sacks to keep ECU at an arm's length. |
Essad Malik | 31-21 (W) | I can't see this as anything but the usual "let the smaller team hang around longer than you should before closing them out late" scenario. Hollywood and CJ will look good, but defense will leave us shaking our heads. |
Trey Lower | 24-20 (W) | Man, we have got to stop scheduling purple schools with a direction in their name to open the season... State comes out slow and the game is lower scoring than expected, but they do just enough to win... but is it enough to keep the fans engaged for 11 more games? |
Jackson Williford | 38-21 (W) | Don't let the Military Bowl cloud your judgment. State is the better team. |
So, what do you think will happen this week? Let us know in the comments below, and respond in the poll with your pick!
Who do you think will win?
NC State Wolfpack
Eastern Carolina Pirate
AI Image of the Week
This week's image was just too adorable not to include it at full size. Look at that cute little pirate thinking it can stand up to this big bad wolf, no idea they're about to get eaten alive, so cute!!
My heart says we win by 2 touchdowns, 38-24, but my gut says I should be worried about their receivers getting behind our DB's and it might be close.