When North Carolina walks into PNC Arena this weekend for shootaround, it’ll enter the building as an underdog for the 1st time since the 2020 season.

That season, a lost 1 for Roy Williams and North Carolina, when a pandemic spoiled an NCAA Tournament opportunity for NC State, saw the Tar Heels manage to buck the oddsmakers and defeat the Wolfpack, 75-65, in Raleigh, buoyed by a 25-point, 11-rebound effort from Garrison Brooks.

In fact, NC State lost both of its games to that Tar Heels team, despite posting a 20-win campaign that had the Wolfpack on the right side of the bubble before COVID-19 shut down the postseason in mid-March.

The uniqueness of North Carolina visiting Raleigh and NC State as an underdog, which will happen again on Sunday, should not be lost on anyone. Prior to 2020, North Carolina hadn’t visited State as an underdog since 2013, when Mark Gottfried’s Wolfpack defeated the Tar Heels (and covered the 4.5 points) behind 20 points and 11 assists from Lorenzo Brown.

Prior to that?

You have to go back to Herb Sendek and All-American Julius Hodge’s NC State teams of the mid-2000s to find a Carolina team that entered Raleigh as an underdog. It simply doesn’t happen often.

That oddity alone makes Sunday’s game at PNC Arena (1 p.m., ESPN) appointment television.

But it’s the other opportunities the game presents for each program that makes this edition of the rivalry so intriguing.

For NC State (20-7, 10-6 ACC), it is the chance to win the program’s 50th game against its hated rival and deliver a devastating blow to North Carolina’s NCAA Tournament hopes in the process. North Carolina fans will inevitably point to their lopsided edge (117 wins) in the series in the buildup to the game, as they always do. Those insults sting less when you’ve just crippled your rival’s hopes of going to the NCAA Tournament.

Throw in the fact that State hasn’t beaten North Carolina in 4 tries and you get even more urgency on the Wolfpack side, and that’s before you consider that the Pack are just 6-7 in Quad 1 and 2 games, and another Quad 2 win would be helpful come Selection Sunday. A win would also all but seal a top-6 seed at the ACC Tournament for NC State, giving Kevin Keatts’ team a great chance at favorable matchups in Greensboro.

For North Carolina (16-10, 8-7), the game is even more vital. The Tar Heels have not won a Quad 1 game this season. A win Sunday would end that run of futility and likely keep the Tar Heels just inside the sigh-of-relief side of the bubble. Currently, North Carolina is a “Last Four In” team, per Bracket Matrix, which aggregates all bracket projections and grades the Tar Heels as the 67th team in the Field of 68.

Lukas Harkins, who runs Heat Check CBB and has been 1 of Bracket Matrix’s top 10 bracketologists for 5 consecutive seasons, has the Tar Heels as his “First Team Out” in his latest projection, underscoring just how thin the margins are on either side of the bubble for the Tar Heels and just how big a Quad 1 opportunity Carolina faces on Sunday.  The Tar Heels need this game desperately and winning it could mean the difference between an NCAA Tournament berth and the NIT.

When — like NC State is when it plays the Tar Heels — you are constantly characterized as “little brother” in a bitter rivalry, being bitter and ready to fight is rarely a problem. But you don’t often have to face “big brother” when he’s desperate. NC State’s challenge may be to meet and match North Carolina’s desperation Sunday.

The Wolfpack, though, may not need the storylines. They don’t need to be reminded of what happened to Terquavion Smith on a hard foul by Leaky Black in the game in Chapel Hill last month. They won’t need to be reminded of the dismissive nature in which their program is treated by North Carolina and its fans or the series history to get up for this game. They won’t need to be reminded that they haven’t defeated North Carolina as a home favorite in nearly a decade. They won’t need to be reminded of Armando Bacot’s decision to throw shade by wearing shades after the Tar Heels upended State, 80-69, at the Dean Dome.

They won’t need that because, in case you haven’t paid much attention this season, the Wolfpack are really good.

Smith is KenPom’s 4th-best player in the ACC this season, behind only Bacot, Wake Forest guard Tyree Appleby and Duke’s Kyle Filipowski. Smith is excellent at creating his own shot, and he’ll have to be licking his lips at the film of Nijel Pack tearing up the Tar Heels earlier this week. Smith wasn’t playing well before the injury in January in Chapel Hill; it seems unlikely he’ll flounder for a 2nd consecutive time facing North Carolina this season.

Smith has plenty of help, beginning with Ole Miss transfer Jarkel Joiner, who has been terrific all season. Joiner is a problem in the paint, a great finisher at the tin and the type of plus defender who can take RJ Davis away. Davis hurt State badly in the 1st game, getting Joiner and Smith into early foul trouble and scoring 26 points in the Carolina win. A bounce-back game from the veteran is likely.

Finally, NC State has DJ Burns Jr. in the paint, and he’s come on strong since the last North Carolina game. His minutes are up and so is his productivity. Burns has scored in double figures in all but 1 of NC State’s ACC games in 2023, and he’s had outbursts of 31, 24 and 18 since the 1st Carolina game. He’s not an elite defender because he doesn’t move well, but he’s a smart defender positionally and if he stays out of foul trouble, he can go toe to toe offensively with Bacot.

The Wolfpack have the pieces to win, and at home this season they’ve done just that, save for 1 early December loss to league-leading Pitt. North Carolina, meanwhile, has struggled mightily on the road, going 2-6 with wins coming only at lowly Louisville and by 4 points at a mediocre Syracuse. On paper, then, NC State at home ought to be the better team.

Of course, desperate teams defy oddsmakers all the time, and North Carolina is nothing if not desperate. Desperate to beat a quality team on the road. Desperate to extend a big streak against a rival. Desperate to avoid becoming the 1st preseason No. 1 team since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 in 1984-85 to miss the Big Dance.

A desperate North Carolina against a disrespected NC State? 

Sounds like a nice little Sunday.