The SportsCenter highlight of the night last Wednesday was the Pack’s victory over sixth-ranked Duke. As students rushed the court at the end of the highlight, anchor Scott Van Pelt put it best when he said, ‘It doesn’t take much these days.’

Has the culture around our basketball program stooped so low that a victory over any in-state ‘rival’ is deemed worthy of a court-rushing?

These victories should not come as a surprise. State has a division one basketball program. The University gives athletic scholarships to students every year so they will come to this school and help win these games. So why do we act surprised when we actually do win?

I was in the stands as the Pack took down the Blue Devils this past week just as I was in the stands when the Pack took down the Demon Deacons at the RBC Center last year. And both times, the students rushed the court.

But this year I was not one of those students.

When I rushed last year I asked myself, ‘Why are we doing this? Shouldn’t we expect to be this good?’

But the answer is unquestionably, ‘No.’

Wolfpack nation does not expect its team to be good enough to beat the teams that it dares to call rivals. By rushing the court after beating a team, the students are telling the world that they were huge underdogs and that even they didn’t expect to come out on top.

Rushing the court is more than a show of excitement. If it was a mere show of excitement then anytime the home team won in the Duke/UNC rivalry there would be a court rushing. But there’s not. Both Duke and UNC expect to win every single time they play.

But that doesn’t take away from student excitement when they do win. The students still go out after the game to celebrate.

Growing up in Durham, the lasting images of celebration after the UNC vs. Duke games were students partying on Franklin Street after Carolina victories and campus bonfires after Duke victories.

Not once do I remember either school rushing the court after winning. And that’s because they expect to win.

This year above all years we should expect to beat Carolina. The team our men’s basketball team will face is not the team that won the National Championship last season. It isn’t the team that could take the court and blow out any opponent on any given night like last year.

Carolina will put out a young, inexperienced team, a team that is 1-5 away from home with its one victory coming at a neutral site against Ohio State. This is a team that has lost three games in a row, a team that has fallen out of the Associated Press Top-25.

State will not be facing a Final Four-caliber team tonight. It may not even be facing an NCAA tournament quality team.

So celebrate when we beat UNC. Take to the streets and dance the night away.

But don’t rush the court. Don’t admit that you did not expect the Pack to pull out the victory. Don’t expect the Heels to come into our house and stomp all over us.