Later that month, December 28–30, the first annual Dixie Classic tournament was held in Reynolds. The Dixie Classic was a three-day tournament held each December until 1961 that matched the four Tobacco Road schools of NC State, North Carolina, Duke, and Wake Forest against four of the top teams from across the country. In its time the Dixie Classic became the largest regular season tournament in college basketball. After finishing the season at 27–6 and winning its fourth consecutive Southern Conference Tournament, the Wolfpack received invitations to both the National Invitation Tournament and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. Case declined the NIT bid and accepted the invitation to the program's first ever NCAA Tournament. The team defeated Holy Cross before losing to eventual champion City College of New York, 78–73. NC State went on to defeat Baylor in the third-place game, 53–41. The Wolfpack won its fifth consecutive Southern Conference title in 1951 and its sixth the following year. Both seasons ended in early exits from the NCAA Tournament, though. In 1951 State defeated Villanova in the first round before losing to Illinois. In 1952 the team lost in the first round to St. John's and future North Carolina head coach Frank McGuire.