N.C. State's season of big expectations might start with a major setback.

Junior guard Lorenzo Brown will undergo exploratory knee surgery on Tuesday, the school announced on Sunday. His status for the team's preseason trip to Spain in August, and the start of the 2012-13 season in November, will be re-evaluated after the surgery.

Brown, a 6-5 point guard, emerged as a team leader and one of the best all-around guards in the ACC as a sophomore. He led the Wolfpack in assists (6.3 per game), steals (an ACC-best 1.8 per game) and added 12.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in his first season as the team's point guard.

CHAPEL HILL — You have to go back a ways – a long ways – to find when N.C. State last entered a basketball season as the favorite to the win the ACC. But that could change next season.

“I would think that could very easily happen, and maybe should happen,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said on Thursday. 

The NCAA honored 58 ACC teams on Thursday for academic achievement.

Duke led the the ACC, and was second among the six major conferences, with 13 Public Recognition Awards, given to the teams that rank in the top 10 percent in each sport in the Academic Progress Rate.

Freshman pitching ace Carlos Rodon of N.C. State is one of three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, announced Tuesday by USA Baseball.

N.C. State’s NCAA Super Regional baseball games at Florida this weekend will be televised by ESPNU.

State, 43-18 after winning the Raleigh Regional over Vanderbilt, will face a Gator team (45-18) seeded first in the starting field of 64.

RALEIGH — N.C. State owed Vanderbilt one after Saturday night. The Wolfpack got a win back from the Commodores on Sunday.

The Wolfpack bounced back from a crushing loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday night with a 6-5 win on Sunday at Doak Field. The same teams will meet for a third time tonight (7 p.m.) with the winner moving on to face Florida, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, in the Super Regional.

N.C. State (42-18) kept its season alive with some clutch hitting by second baseman Matt Bergquist, who knocked in the winning run in the eighth inning. Bergquist, a junior, began the day with a .197 batting average. His single to right scored Brett Austin to break a 5-5 with the Commodores.

In State's 17-5 win over UNC-Wilmington earlier on Sunday, Bergquist went 3-for-5 with a home run, his first of the season, and six RBI. His batting average after two games on Sunday rose 25 points, to .222.

The Wolfpack scored six runs in three ACC tournament games but exploded for 47 runs in four NCAA tournament games.

The Pack's offense had no trouble finding runs early against the Commodores. State took a 5-3 lead into the seventh inning with single runs in the first, fourth and fifth innings. Trea Turner's two-run home run put two up in the third.

Pack designated hitter Ryan Mathews hit his ninth homer in 14 games to give State a 1-0 advantage in the first. Turner's homer kept carrying and carrying until leftfielder Jack Lupo ran out of room. Bergquist, who led off the inning with a walk, scored on Turner's fifth homer of the season to give State a 3-0 lead.

Vandy got on the board with an RBI-double by first baseman Conrad Gregor in the top of the fourth.

Starter Anthony Tzamtzis did not get out of the third inning in his previous two starts, ACC losses to Florida State and Wake Forest, but worked the first five innings without too much trouble.

But the Commodores rallied for two runs each in the sixth and seventh innings against Tzamtzis. Mike Yastrzemski tripled to drive in a run and scored in the sixth to cut State's lead to 5-3.

The Commodores evened the game in the seventh, and chased Tzamtzis, with a pair of manufactured runs. Connor Castellano, who scored the game-winning run on Saturday, singled and scored after a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch.

Kemp walked, stole second, advanced on a fielder's choice and scored on an RBI-double by Anthony Gomez, to even the game at 5-5.

Vandy had no more comeback magic, though. Ryan Wilkins worked the final two innings, giving up only one hit, to give the Wolfpack the win.

RALEIGH — One down, two to go.

N.C. State had to win three games in the losers' bracket to advance to the Super Regional. The Wolfpack knocked out UNC-Wilmington with a 17-5 win in the NCAA regional on Sunday afternoon at Doak Field.

State faces Vanderbilt today at 6 p.m. The top-seeded Wolfpack will have to beat second-seeded Vandy twice to win the regional. State recovered a 9-8 loss to the Commodores on Saturday night by dispatching the Seahawks (39-23) with 22 hits and a clean defensive performance.

N.C. State tight ends coach Don Horton is stepping away from coaching but will remain on the Wolfpack staff as the assistant director of football operations, head coach Tom O'Brien announced today. 

The first class for the N.C. State Athletic Hall of Fame will be honored on Oct. 5. The 10-person class will be selected by a committee, which was announced Tuesday.

There will be a gala event on Oct. 5 at Reynolds Coliseum to honor the inductees.

N.C. State pitcher Carlos Rodon won nine games during the regular season and two awards on Monday.

The ACC named Rodon the Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year. The left-hander from Holly Springs is one of three Wolfpack players voted to the first-team All-ACC by the league's 12 coaches.