Raleigh's game day runs on a chip and a grill: NC State fans tailgate harder than anyone in the Triangle — the Carter-Finley lots are a legitimate barbecue event — and carry the particular intensity of a fan base surrounded by two blue-blood neighbors it enjoys beating more than anything on earth.
The Mascot
The Wolfpack name allegedly began as an insult — a disgruntled fan in the early 1920s complaining that the students behaved 'like a wolf pack' — and the school, in the finest mascot tradition, adopted the slur as a badge. Mr. and Ms. Wuf hold it down in costume, and the crowd's synchronized howl — long, rising, genuinely wolf-like — is one of the more spine-tingling sounds in the ACC.
The Saturday
Carter-Finley sits next to the state fairgrounds, which means twice a decade game day collides with the North Carolina State Fair and creates the greatest parking crisis and food pairing in the sport — deep-fried everything plus tailgate whole-hog. The Power Sound of the South drumline sets the pregame, and red head-to-toe is the uniform, no accents necessary.
What to Wear
Our vintage Raleigh line is hand-drawn wolf art in red and black on garment-dyed tees and embroidered caps — pack animal energy, drawn like an old varsity patch. Start with all Raleigh gear.