ST. LOUIS — Raleigh holds a special place in Ohio coach John Groce's heart, and not just because it's where he got his first break into major college basketball. Groce met his wife, Allison, when he was an assistant at N.C. State under Herb Sendek in the late 1990s.

"Obviously, that's a big part of it," Groce said. "I really enjoyed my time there. I learned a lot there at a very young age."

Groce, 40, in his third season as the head coach of the Bobcats, who face North Carolina tonight in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

For the first time since Jim Valvano was coaching, North Carolina faces N.C. State when it has both a competitive team and a coach who cares about the rivalry. Les Robinson and Sidney Lowe cared, but never had the horses. As memorable as Lowe’s one victory was, the 2007 “Red Blazer Game,” he lost the next 10 meetings.

Herb Sendek definitely had capable teams -- and was fortunate enough to face UNC during the darkest days of the Matt Doherty Era -- but, famously and lamentably, did everything he could to downplay the rivalry. Over the past few years, the most heated incidence of this rivalry was played at N.C. Central: the Pro-Am matchup two summers ago between the incoming freshmen who are now sophomores.

Duke will face a familiar foe in the NIT Season Tipoff semifinals on Nov. 25 in New York - and it's not just Herb Sendek.

With a 52-49 defeat of Texas Christian on Tuesday that ended long after midnight on the East Coast, Arizona State advanced to the meeting with Duke. Sendek, the former N.C. State coach, credited an ex-Duke player with carrying Arizona State against TCU.

Talk about indigestion.

The NIT Season Tip-Off, whose field was announced Wednesday, presents the ultimate conundrum for N.C. State fans, whose team isn't even involved in the tournament.

Syracuse continued the Big East's dominance of the NCAA Tournament and ended Herb Sendek's return with a 78-67 win over Arizona State on Sunday to move on to the Sweet 16.

The Cuse (3) joins Oklahoma (2), UNC (1) and Gonzaga (4) in the chalky South Regional in Memphis, which starts on Friday. The Cuse faces Oklahoma and UNC gets Gonzaga. Strong regional, much stronger than the Louisville-Washington State-Tennessee pod from Charlotte last year.

You can't write about Herb Sendek without the comments section turning into a referendum on either N.C. State fans and how they supposedly ran Sendek out of town or the News & Observer and how we supposedly mistreated Sendek.

This is an attempt to just talk basketball and Sendek. That's it.

There was nothing surprising about Arizona State's 66-57 win over Temple in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Preparation has always been Sendek's calling card and that is evident in Sendek's opening-round record in all tournaments.

Regional rank: 2 (second toughest)

Going sweet: UNC (1), Gonzaga (4), Arizona State (6), Oklahoma (2)

Dark horse: LSU (8).

No respect for the SEC regular-season champs, because they stumbled at the finish, losing three of four, but the Tigers have two veteran scorers in Marcus Thornton (20.7) and Tas Mitchell (16.3) and a savvy coach.

• Five for the Wolfpack

When you've beaten N.C. State as many times (26) as UNC has since 1994, the victories tend to run together but here are five to remember for the Tar Heels, who are 11-1 against the Wolfpack under coach Roy Williams:

1) Feb. 22, 2006 @ N.C. State

"Herb's Waterloo"

• Five for the Heels

N.C. State's a 20-point underdog for tonight's game at No. 3 UNC. The Wolfpack has pulled off an upset at Chapel Hill before. It might not happen tonight, so here are five Wolfpack wins, since 1994, to remember:

1) Jan. 23, 2002 @ UNC

"The Red Smith Center"

Forty-one ACC games into Sidney Lowe's tenure, N.C. State is 12-29 in conference play.

If this number seems oddly familiar to you, chances are you're a fervent Wolfpack fan.

Ten years ago, N.C. State was 12-29 in its first 41 ACC games under Herb Sendek, Lowe's predecessor. At that time, the Wolfpack was 3-6 in the ACC in Sendek's third season.