This past season’s NCAA tournament was historic, as, for the first time in the 83-year history of the event, Duke and North Carolina met in the Final Four.
Now, the college football season promises to make more state history.
For the first time ever, all four of North Carolina’s ACC teams — Duke, North Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest — are bowl eligible.
The state has sent three of the Big Four on 11 occasions, starting in 1992. That includes seven of the last eight seasons. In an interesting piece of trivia, NC State is the only one of the four to be eligible in each of those 11 previous seasons. Each of the other three is responsible for the state missing a clean sweep at least once.
Beyond that, however, the bowl season is shaping up to be a special one for the state. East Carolina is also eligible. App State is one win away from qualifying, and NC Central won the MEAC, sending the Eagles to their first Celebration Bowl since 2016 and a chance to play for the HBCU National Championship.
Only Charlotte is out of the running for a postseason berth, meaning that North Carolina could send an unprecedented six FBS teams and seven total teams to bowl games. The state sent five teams — including either Central or NC A&T in the Celebration Bowl — from 2015 to 2019 and sent five FBS teams last year.
Here’s a rundown of each team’s bowl prospects.
NC Central: The Eagles won the MEAC and are 8-2 with one game remaining, at Tennessee Tech. Central lost its previous Celebration Bowl appearance, 10-9, in 2016. The Eagles will play the SWAC champion, which has not yet been decided, in the game. The state has been home to four Celebration Bowl champions, with A&T winning in 2015, ’17, ’18 and ’19.
UNC: The Tar Heels are in line to earn the best FBS bowl berth among the state’s teams. UNC clinched the Coastal Division title and could make a CFP New Year’s Six game if it beats Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. Two outlets think that’s going to happen. Sports Illustrated and USA Today both have the Tar Heels slotted to play Alabama in the Orange Bowl. A loss to Clemson will make UNC a desirable team in the next tier of bowls. The most popular prediction is that the Tar Heels will face Mack Brown’s former team, Texas, in the Cheez-It Bowl. Both CBSSports and Athlon see that as the likely scenario. The Athletic sees a Carolina-Florida matchup in the Gator Bowl.
NC State: The Wolfpack is 7-3 with games remaining against Louisville and UNC. The most likely landing spot for the Pack, according to media pundits, is the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte. CBSSports has State playing Illinois, and Athlon sends it there to play Maryland. The other projections include the Cheez-It Bowl (vs. Baylor, Sports Illustrated), Gasparilla Bowl (vs. Tulane, The Athletic) and Gator Bowl (Florida, USA Today).
Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons were in the top 10 in October, but a three-game losing streak has dropped Wake in the bowl pecking order. Most projections have the Deacs traveling for their bowl game: To face Utah in the Holiday (CBSSports) or the Sun (The Athletic), or Oregon State or UCLA in the Sun (USA Today and Athlon, respectively). The only Eastern time zone game projected for Wake is the Military Bowl, against Cincinnati (Sports Illustrated).
Duke: The Blue Devils are the state’s surprise team, with a three-game winning streak taking them to 7-3 in coach Mike Elko’s first year. Two projections have Duke playing in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl (no relation) — against Maryland (The Athletic) or Wisconsin (USA Today). Other landing spots are the Pinstripe (vs. Minnesota, CBSSports), Birmingham (vs. Tulane, Sports Illustrated) or Gasparilla (vs. Memphis, Athlon).
East Carolina: The Pirates’ first bowl appearance in seven years was scuttled last season when the game was canceled due to COVID. Now ECU is 6-4 and ready to end its drought. The Military is the best bet, with The Athletic and Athlon both sending the Pirates there to face Louisville. Other possibilities are Birmingham (vs. Marshall, CBSSports), Armed Forces (vs. UConn, Sports Illustrated) and Gasparilla (vs. Miami, USA Today).
App State: The Mountaineers have lost two in a row and have two remaining chances, home against ODU and at Georgia Southern, to win their sixth game and extend the state’s longest current bowl streak to eight straight seasons. That would also set a state record — App is currently tied with NC State (1988 to 1994) and UNC (1992 to 1998) at seven. In addition to winning six, App would need to find a spot in an ever-shrinking number of bowl vacancies. CBSSports and Sports Illustrated both have App on the outside looking in. The Athletic and Athlon both send the Mountaineers to the LendingTree Bowl, against Wyoming and Ball State, respectively, while USA Today has App playing Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl.
