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Steve Victory JOURNAL – Season #24 (2026-27)
One of N.C. State’s best teams in school history finishes 36-3, wins an NCT title (the school’s second in a row) and sends three players to the NBA (all first-rounders). How do you top that?
Well, on March 29, 2027 Steve Victory walks out of the tunnel of a 40,000-seat dome in St. Louis and onto the floor for his third-straight NCT championship game. This time, along with the trophy signifying the year’s best college hoops team, Victory and company have the chance to make ultimate history.
NC State is 40-0 coming into the title game. Forty wins. Zero losses. One more win, and the perfect season can be Victory’s. No one has achieved an undefeated season since the days of the great John Wooden (edit: and the great Bobby Knight, jksander reminds me in a post below)...
The final obstacle – a tough Illinois team, which has been to six Final Fours in the past 13 years and won one title. The Fighting Illini are 35-4, and believe it or not, are favored by the .400 Sports folks to pull the “upset.”
Victory peeks up into the stands. There is Jeff “The Sheriff” Wilt, his former assistant coach, sitting about 10 rows up. Wilt is coming off a rough year at George Mason – 14-15 overall. He gives Victory a thumbs up and the coach nods back with a big smile.
“If someone would have told me a few months ago I would be standing here coaching a team with a 40-0 record, I would have laughed in your face,” Victory says to first-year assistant coach, Tony Hansen, standing next to him. “Let’s go get us win number 41.”
The head referee then tosses the ball up, State center Brandon Collins taps it to point guard Ian Demory, and the quest for a special Wolfpack three-peat is underway...
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