Cupcakes with Schadenfrosting

State Fan Nation took some time last week out of their schedule of demanding the firing of their basketball coach, football coach and athletic director to complain about the opponents the Wolfpack play. Their point is a good one - your standard Raleigh schedule has more directions than Mapquest - and if more fans demanded this I think they'd be pleased with the results.

Ignore the RPI and its bearing on the NCAA tournament and choose your opponents based on this simple rule: Good teams improve by playing good teams. Yes, you play in the ACC, but wouldn't it be nice to not entire the conference season having no idea if your team is any good? Beef up the schedule and either the Wolfpack will win more games, impress more people, and go farther in the tournament, or they'll be sub .500 squads, and the firings you're rooting for can commence. (Personally, I label the former of these scenarios Option Sendek and the latter Option Amato, but come up with your names if you like.)

Demands for heads to rolls from the rank and file fans doesn't produce much in the way of results. (Especially when you also want the guy in charge of firing to be fired as well. He's not particularly likely to agree with your assessment.) Focus on demanding better games. Skip the military schools and hit up the major conferences. You'll end up with either better teams or better coaches.