Note: ESPN Classic will replay the NCSU/Houston game tonight at 6:00pm.

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of Raleigh’s most important entertainment event, and one of the most important days in the city’s history. The N.C. State Wolfpack beat an incredible Houston team 54-52 to win the school’s second national championship on April 4, 1983. While life and the characters in the story have moved on, the "Cardiac Pack" will always occupy a big place in the heart of Raleigh.

It was the second championship in nine years for State. Just nine years before knocking off Houston, a dominant NCSU team polished off a 1-loss season with the school’s first title. The 1983 team, though, was the inverse story.

The 1983 team was not deep, but its top 6 players were all excellent. The season was off to an excellent start, but was marred by the fracture of Derrick Whittenberg’s right 5th metatarsal (stupid Othell Wilson!). With depth an issue the team lost 10 games, but ended the regular season with a more than 40-point blowout of the ACC’s 5th team, Wake Forest.

Only a week later the Pack faced that very same Wake team in the first round of The Omni’s first ACC Tournament. This time, though, Wake came to play, and it took a pair of Lorenzo Charles free throws to get over the hump. State took care of UNC (in OT), and UVA to win the ACC Championship. Many of us laughingly held up fingers and yelled,"Four for Albuquerque!" as we left the arena.

 

Little did we know, it was just the beginning of the most improbable run in NCAA history. The Cardiac Pack performed repeated resurrections in the tournament. Pepperdine, UNLV, and Virginia all fell to the Pack’s last minute-heroics. NCSU also had some easy wins in their run, with an 18-point win over Utah, and a relatively easy 7-point win over UNC’s ouster, Georgia.

Houston was one of the all-time great college basketball teams. Their slaughters of outstanding Maryland, Houston, Villanova, and Louisville teams had the nation in awe. Maybe they took the Pack lightly, got out-coached, or got out-lucked. Whatever the reason, major media outlets, such as Sports Illustrated, still bemoaned the loss of the mighty Cougars to the 10-loss Wolfpack. Little did they know that N.C. State had changed the way America views the NCAA Tournament.

Not only did the championship-winning Lorenzo Charles dunk live on as one of the greatest college basketball moments in history, the Pack’s run lived on as hope for all of the little teams in the tournament. David can now face Goliath with reasonable hope, giving the NCAA tournament a firm grasp on America’s disposable attention for the entire month of March.

The Cardiac Pack’s championship sent Raleigh into a frenzy. While thousands had gathered in the Brickyard for previous wins, Hillsborough Street was the gathering place for the night nobody would forget. That night Raleigh was a city of blaring car horns. The following day more than 17,000 showed up to honor the team in the 12,400-seat Reynolds Coliseum.

Personally April 4, 1983 stands as the pinnacle of excitement in my life. The championship play was so incredible, I jumped up and touched a 9-foot ceiling for the first time. Our paraffin cups from The Omni and autographed basketball still sit in the house as reminders of how great life can be and that nothing is impossible.

While we keep the spirit of the Cardiac Pack alive, we must use that spirit moving forward toward tomorrow’s greatness. Staying preoccupied with the past will prevent us from reaching similar highs again. For one day, though, we can certainly relive not one, THE, shining moment.

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