COLUMBUS, Ohio — N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried has embraced all the extra attention that has come with the Wolfpack's first NCAA tournament appearance in six years.

Well, almost all of it. After President Barack Obama put the Wolfpack in the round of 16 in his bracket picks for ESPN, Gottfried sent a text to his former ESPN colleague, Andy Katz.

"The President's trying to win votes, I'm trying to get wins," Gottfried said he wrote in the text to Katz. "It's a little different."

San Diego State may play its games late at night by East Coast standards, and the Mountain West cable network isn't exactly easy to find, but N.C. State guard C.J. Williams knows what to expect from the Aztecs.

"I've seen them play a couple of times," Williams said Thursday in Columbus, where the Wolfpack prepared to face San Diego State on Friday. "I watched them in their conference tournament. I remember the shot that -- I don't remember which player it was, but he hit the shot at the end to win the game. They were ranked during the season, so you see them on TV, watch the highlights."

The N.C. State women's basketball team will host High Point on Thursday in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament.

The Wolfpack (18-15) will compete in the WNIT for the third time in school history and for the first time since 2008.

The Wolfpack is a certain darkhorse in the NCAAtournament after landing the No.11 seed in the Midwest Regional with an opening-round  assignment against No. 6 San Diego State.

Talk about things being cardiac for the Pack.

With one selection left for the NCAA Tournament field Sunday, N.C. State still was on the outside looking in.

"It was intense," Pack junior Scott Wood said. "Everything is wandering through your mind. You're not going to be in. What if you're the last one? That's about as crazy as it can get, right there. When you come down to the last pick it's like, 'Oh, please, just please."

The Pack's prayers were answered. N.C. State (22-12) made it as an 11th seed in the Midwest Region and will face sixth seed San Diego State (26-7) in its opener Friday in Columbus, Ohio.

With the suspense peaking, N.C. State was the last team announced for the NCAA tournament on Sunday evening.

The Wolfpack, a No. 11 seed, will face San Diego State (26-7) on Friday in Columbus, Ohio. Led by Mountain West Conference player of the year Jamaal Franklin, the Aztecs lost to New Mexico in the MWC championship.

After winning two games in the ACC tournament and falling short in the final seconds in the semifinals against North Carolina, N.C. State was on just about every prognosticator’s bubble heading into Sunday night.

As more and more teams were revealed, it looked like the Wolfpack may be on the outside looking in.

But after San Diego State was displayed, the N.C. State logo flashed on the screen, giving Mark Gottfried an NCAA tournament appearance in his first season as Wolfpack coach.

Kendall Marshall banked in a shot with 10.2 seconds remaining and the fourth-ranked Tar Heels came up with a pair of defensive stops to edge their state rival 69-67 in the Semifinals of the 2012 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament.

The North Carolina Tar Heels held off N.C. State in a 69-67 thriller to advance to the ACC Championship on Sunday. CineSport's Noah Coslov and The News & Observer's Joe Giglio recap the action.

Updated 6:10 p.m.

ATLANTA — After Mark Gottfried was hired by N.C. State in April, and throughout the first half of the season, the coach repeatedly said that his team had a "long way to go."

But there was the Wolfpack on Saturday in Atlanta going back-and-forth with North Carolina, the best team in the conference, in a classic ACC game and just seconds away from a spot in the ACC championship game.

Kendall Marshall's bank shot, with 10.2 seconds left, provided the difference for the top-seeded Tar Heels, who advanced to the title game with a pulsating 69-67 win.

N.C. State's NCAA tournament prospects improved with Friday's win over Virginia in the ACC tournament.

That much we know.

A win today over North Carolina would cement the Wolfpack's spot in the field of 68. Two more wins in the ACC tournament and it wouldn't have to worry about the selection committee because it would have the league's automatic bid.

As of this morning, both CollegeRPI.com and ESPN have the Wolfpack off the bubble and in the tournament.