NC State will be one of four teams in a loaded 2020 Empire Classic (formerly 2K Classic) field, per Jeff Goodman. The event, which is held at Madison Square Garden, will also feature Michigan, Villanova, and Baylor. That should help with the ol’ non-conference schedule strength.
It appears this is one of those events where each school hosts a couple of cupcakes in conjunction with it—but NC State would already be doing that one way or another. Once the Pack gets to New York City, it’ll have a couple of potentially significant resume-boosting opportunities. I mean, unless the above three programs go falling off a cliff in the meantime.