Sports

ACC — Abbreviation for Atlantic Coast Conference. Refer to as the ACC on all references. Schools include:

  • Boston College — Refer to as BC on second reference. School nickname is the Eagles.
  • Clemson — School nickname is the Tigers.
  • Duke — School nickname is the Blue Devils. Refer to as the Devils on subsequent references.
  • Florida State — Refer to as FSU on second reference. School nickname is the Seminoles. Refer to as the Noles on second reference.
  • Georgia Tech — Refer to as Tech on second reference, unless it can be confused with Virginia Tech in the story. School nickname is the Yellow Jackets. Refer to as the Jackets on subsequent references.
  • Maryland — School nickname is the Terrapins. Refer to as the Terps on second reference.
  • Miami — School nickname is the Hurricanes. Refer to as the Canes on second reference.
  • North Carolina — Refer to as UNC or Carolina on second reference. School nickname is the Tar Heels. Refer to as the Heels on second reference.
  • Virginia — Refer to as UVa on second reference. School nickname is the Cavaliers. Refer to as the Cavs on second reference.
  • Virginia Tech — Refer to as Tech on second reference, unless it can be confused with Georgia Tech in the story. School nickname is the Hokies.
  • Wake Forest — Refer to as Wake on second reference. School nickname is the Demon Deacons. Refer to as the Deacs on second reference.

All-ACC, All-America (adj), All-American (n) — Players are voted on to the All-ACC team and the All-America team by The Associated Press for outstanding achievement in their sport. A player who is named to the All-America team is called an All-American. N.C. State’s Lloyd Harrison was a member of the 1998 All-America second team. Former All-American Tom Gugliotta was taken in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Baseball

  • College World Series — refer to as the CWS on second reference. Double elimination tournament held between eight teams that advance out of their Regionals. 
  • ERA — abbreviation for earned run average. Written as ERA on every reference. Calculated by multiplying the number of earned runs allowed by nine and dividing by the number of innings pitched.
  • leadoff (adj.)
  • left field, left fielder, left-field line
  • outfield, outfielder
  • RBI — abbreviation for runs batted in. Written as RBI on every reference. The plural form is RBIs.
  • strikeout (n.), struck out (v.)

Basketball

  • Final Four — name given to the national semifinals and finals of the NCAA Tournament.
  • field goal, field-goal percentage
  • jump shot — can also be referred to as a jumper.
  • 3-pointer, 3-point percentage, 3-point arc

Dail Basketball Center 

Dail Soccer Field 

Dail Softball Stadium 

Derr Track — home to N.C. State track and field.

Doak Field — home to N.C. State baseball.

East Atlantic Gymnastics League — gymnastics-only conference consisting of the following schools: N.C. State, Maryland, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Towson and West Virginia. Refer to as the EAGL on second reference.

Football

  • Bowl Championship Series — Refer to as the BCS on second reference.
  • downs —  written with the number of the down first then the number of yards to go. The Pack faced a third-and-5 from their own 45-yard line.

Golf

  • clubs — use numerals to describe the type of club being used. 3-wood, 5-iron.
  • par — number of shots given to put the ball in the hole.

head coach — lowercase in all uses. Just use coach’s last name on subsequent references.

Jumbotron — trademark name for the giant television screen in many stadums.

J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center — built in 2004 and located on Central Campus, the the center is home to the N.C. State tennis program.

lineup

Lonnie Poole Golf Course — located on Centennial Campus, the home course for N.C. State golf

matchup

Method Road Stadium — home to N.C. State men’s and women’s soccer.

Murphy Center — at Carter-Finley stadium, home to N.C. State’s football operations

MVP — acceptable in any reference as an abbreviation for Most Valuable Player.

NCAA — acceptable in any reference as an abbreviation for National Collegiate Athletic Association. Written as NCAA on every reference.

NCAA Tournament — can be referred to as NCAAs on subsequent references.

nonconference

numbers — numbers greater than or equal to 10 or numbers in decimal form are generally written as numerals.  Some exceptions include:

  • dimensions — always written as numerals. The race was 6 kilometers long. The diver won in the 1-meter platform.
  • height — can be written as: the 6-5 basketball player, the 5-foot-2 gymnast, the 6-foot quarterback.
  • percentages — if there are fractions in the number, write in decimal form. Write out the word percent following the number. Julius Hodge makes 52.5 percent of his free throws. NOT Julius Hodge makes 52 1/2 percent of his free throws.
  • rankings — when written as ordinals, spell out for numbers under 10, as usual. When written as numbers, use the form No. xx. The No. 21 N.C. State basketball team takes on No. 3 Duke on Saturday.  The 21st-ranked Pack has won five consecutive games, while the third-ranked Blue Devils have taken nine in a row.
  • scores — written in the form xx-xx with the winning team’s score first. N.C. State defeated Duke 5-4 in Saturday night’s baseball game.
  • successes vs. attempts — for statistics that are written as successes vs. attempts, write in the form xx-for-xx. The Wolfpack made 9-of-11 free throws in the first half. Outfielder Brian Wright went 3-for-4 at the plate. Quarterback Philip Rivers completed 14-of-21 passes.
  • yardage — in football, yardage is always written in numeric form. Quarterback Philip Rivers completed a 5-yard pass to wide receiver Bryan Peterson. Running back Ray Robinson carried the ball 6 yards.

redshirt

states — do not use a state abbreviation after places in North Carolina. Place a comma between the city and state, and another after the state if the sentence continues. See the AP Stylebook for details. For stories outside of Raleigh, use a dateline containing a city name and state (for stories outside of North Carolina). An exception to AP style.

Soccer

  • fullback
  • halfback
  • penalty kick — free kick taken 12 yards from the goal. Penalty kicks are awarded when a foul is committed against an offensive player inside the 18-yard goal box.
  • red card, yellow card
  • shootout
  • sweeper

Swimming and Diving

  • backstroke — refer to as back on second reference.
  • breaststroke — refer to as breast on subsequent reference.
  • butterfly — refer to as fly on subsequent references.
  • freestyle — refer to as free on subsequent references.
  • individual medley — refer to as IM on subsequent references.

Tennis

  • break
  • deuce — when a game is tied at 40-all.
  • double fault
  • game — the first player or team to reach four points with a two-point margin wins a game. If a player or team reaches four points but is not leading by more than two, then the game continues until someone wins by two points.
  • racket
  • set — singles matches are won by the first player to win two out of three sets. In a singles match, the first player to reach six or seven games with a two-point margin wins a set. If a player reaches six or seven games but is not leading by more than two, then the set goes to a tiebraker. Doubles matches consist of one set and are won by the first team to reach nine games with a two-point margin.
  • tiebreaker — tiebreakers take place in sets that are tied at six. The first player to reach seven points with a two-point margin wins the tiebreaker and the set. If a player reaches seven points but is not leading by more than two, then the tiebreaker continues until someone wins by two points.

Vaughn Towers — home to 51 private luxury suites with climate control, with 117,000 square feet of total space; part of the facility is available for rent by private businesses or other groups for events in the football offseason.

Volleyball

  • ace
  • assist
  • block
  • dig
  • game — volleyball matches are won by the first team to win three out of five games. The first team to reach 30 points with at least a two-point margin wins a game. If a team reaches 30 points but is not leading by more than two, then the game continues until someone wins by two points.
  • kill
  • middle blocker
  • middle hitter, outsider hitter
  • setter
  • spike

walk-on (n.), walk on (v.)

Willis Casey Aquatics Center — home to N.C. State swimming and diving.

Wrestling

  • decision — when a wrestler wins a match by 1-7 points.
  • draw
  • fall — when a wrestler wins a match by pinning his opponents shoulders to the mat.
  • major decision — when a wrestler wins a match by 8-14 points.
  • technical fall — when a wrestler wins a match by 15 points or more.
  • weight classes — wrestlers are matched up against each other by weight classes. There are 10 weight classes in collegiate wrestling: 125 pounds, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197 and heavyweight.