WE'RE GOING TO BE HEARING FROM OTHER FANS HERE AT 11:00 HERE ON WRAL TV. >> CHRIS LOVINGOOD REPORTING LIVE IN A MESS RIGHT HERE IN RALEIGH. WE WILL TALK ABOUT THIS EERILY FAMILIAR HEARTBREAK FOR NC STATE FANS IN THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT. IT'S BEEN A WHILE PAST 12 MONTHS EXPERIENCED DURING COVID. BACK IN THE SUMMER, NC STATE'S BASKETBALL TEAM WAS HEADED FOR THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES, AND THEN NOW THIS. CAN YOU PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE HOW ARE PEOPLE SUPPOSED TO DEAL WITH THIS TYPE OF HEART ACHE WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN PLAY IN THE GAME HE EARNED A SPOT TO PLAY IN? >> I THINK THAT'S THE ULTIMATE FRUSTRATION. YOU HAD A THIRD PARTY IN THE NCAA TELLING YOU YOU HAD 20 PLAYERS WHO NEVER TESTED POSITIVE, WHO AREN'T ALLOWED TO PLAY IN THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES. THAT YOU GET TO THIS BOWL GAME, YOU'VE GONE THROUGH ALL THE PROTOCOLS OF THE FOOTBALL TEAM HAS, THE WHOLE TEAM IS VACCINATED, THE AND THEY HAVE NOT HAD ANY ISSUES THIS SEASON. ONLY TO HAVE UCLA FIVE HOURS BEFORE THE GAME AFTER THE COACH WAS JOKING YESTERDAY, "WE ONLY NEED 11 PLAYERS TO PLAY." BUT LET'S KEEP IT IN PERSPECTIVE. THE BASEBALL TEAM WAS PLAYING FOR A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. THIS WAS A CHANCE, OBVIOUSLY, TO CAP A GREAT SEASON FOR NC STATE. AS DAVE DOEREN SAID, THIS CANCELLATION WAS NOT THEIR FAULT AND IT DOES NOT DIMINISH THEIR COMPLIMENTS THIS SEASON. >> I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE HOLDING OUT THIS HOPE THERE COULD BE THIS LAST GAME THAT IS THROWN IN THERE AT THE LAST MINUTE TO HELP HOPEFULLY GET THE WOLFPACK TO A 10-WIN SEASON, A MONUMENTAL THING FOR THEM TO DO. ANY IDEA ON A POTENTIAL REPLACEMENT GAME, OR IS THIS GOING TO BE IT? >> I THINK JANUARY 4th, THE TEXT IS BOLD IS THEIR BEST HOPE. RIGHT NOW, THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE KANSAS STATE AND LSU. THAT GAME US ABOUT THE BLADE IN HOUSTON. THE WAY GAMES HAVE BEEN HANDLED, WHO THE HECK KNOWS? YOU ARE NOT TREATING FOR ANY TEAM TO HAVE THE ISSUE THAT UCLA DID, BUT YOU ARE NC STATE, MAYBE YOU TAKE YOUR TIME GETTING BACK FROM SAN DIEGO TO RALEIGH, AND YOU HAVE TO STOP IN HOUSTON AND PLAY CAN'T THE STATE ARE LSU, WHY NOT? >> YES A LITTLE BIT LIKE WISHFUL THINKING, BUT I'M GOING TO GET ON THE BOAT WITH YOU ON THAT ONE. >> I THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE ENOUGH TIME. THEY WOULD GIVE YOU LITTLE LESS THAN A WEEK TO GET READY FOR THE GAME. I THINK AT THIS DATE, NC STATE WILL PLAY WITH ANYONE. >> HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO BOO CORRIGAN AT ALL? >> I HAVE NOT SPOKEN TO BOO CORRIGAN. THE TEAM WAS SET TO GO, AND THEY THOUGHT UCLA WAS SET TO GO THIS MORNING. I THINK IT DID CATCH THEM OFFGUARD. I GUESS IT WAS FIVE HOURS BEFORE KICK THAT THEY GOT THE NEWS, AND OBVIOUSLY DISAPPOINTED IT WAS BRUCE FELDMAN, WHO WORKS FOR FOX AND WAS WORKING THE GAME WHO ENDED UP BREAKING THE NEWS TO THEM, NOT UCLA. I THINK THEY WERE DISAPPOINTED BY THAT AS WELL. >> ARE YOU SURPRISED AT ALL? COACH DOEREN SEEMED TO COME OUT WITH A BIT OF HEAT TODAY, TALKING ABOUT UCLA AND WHETHER OR NOT THEY COULD'VE LEARNED THIS INFORMATION EARLIER, WONDERING WHEN PEOPLE KNEW WHAT THEY WERE FACING. WERE YOU SURPRISED AT ALL WITH WHAT HIS COMMENTS WERE WHEN HE FIRST ADDRESSED MEDIA? >> I THINK HE IS REACTING AND EXPRESSING FRUSTRATION AT THE PROGRAM . THE PLAYERS, YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER LAST YEAR HOW MUCH OTHER PLAYERS ACROSS COLLEGE FOOTBALL WENT THROUGH, AND NC STATE WAS ONE OF THE FEW PROGRAMS THAT ACTUALLY GOT ALL THEIR GAMES IN LAST SEASON, SO THIS GROUP HAS SHOWN TREMENDOUS DISCIPLINE IN FOLLOWING ALL COVID PROTOCOLS, WHATEVER THEY ARE, AND SO FOR THEM NOT TO PLAY IN YOUR LAST GAME? LIKE I SAID, MAYBE JANUARY 4th, THEY COULD STOP BY HOUSTON AND FIND THE GAME. HECK, MAYBE THE ROSE BOWL, WHO KNOWS? >> WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THAT TOO.