Mike Elko has left Duke for Texas A&M, Mike Houston got a vote of confidence from East Carolina after a 2-10 season, and Appalachian State is back in the Sun Belt Conference title game (with a lot of help). While the Blue Devils have a coaching search ahead, four schools in the state now turn much of their focus to bowl games.
Here’s what is ahead for the state’s seven FBS schools.
End of the line
Wake Forest, ECU and Charlotte all saw their seasons come to an end on Saturday.
Demon Deacons coach Dave Clawson will set in motion a plan to bounce back from the team’s 4-8 campaign, the school’s worst record since it went 3-9 in Clawson’s first two seasons in 2014 and 2015.
Houston will enter next season on the hot seat after the Pirates bottomed out with just one win against an FBS opponent.
The 49ers finished 3-9 in Biff Poggi’s first season at the helm, but the coach is encouraged about the growth of his program.
“Love this team. Love these kids. Onward. So excited to be here and be building something special at Charlotte,” Poggi said in a post Monday on X.
Top of the mountain
App State has a chance to reclaim its spot atop the Sun Belt when it travels to Troy to face the Trojans for the conference championship on Saturday. The 8-4 Mountaineers had help getting there as James Madison finished a game above App State in the East Division standings but was ineligible to play in the game due to rules regarding teams recently elevating to FBS.
The Mountaineers still took care of business, beating the previously unbeaten Dukes and then winning their fifth straight game Saturday. App’s fate will be determined by the result of Saturday’s game, but the best bet might be the Cure Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 16 against a Group of Five foe. The Camellia (Dec. 23, Montgomery, Alabama) and Liberty (Dec. 29, Memphis, Tennessee) bowls are possibilities as well.
Pack your bags for Florida
Like the Mountaineers, the Wolfpack take a five-game winning streak into the postseason. The most likely destination for NC State to try and get its elusive 10th win is the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 28. A Big 12 opponent, perhaps Oklahoma State, is the likely opponent.
The other possible destination for the Wolfpack? Florida, duh! NC State could also get an SEC foe in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville on Dec. 29. The Wolfpack played in that bowl in 2018 and 2020, losing both times.
Later, Gator
The Tar Heels have gone to different bowls after each season since Mack Brown returned to Chapel Hill. Starting in 2019, UNC — which finished 8-4 after beginning the year with six wins — has played in the Military, Orange, Duke’s Mayo and Holiday bowls over the past four years.
The Heels might go 5 for 5.
While rival NC State is mentioned as a possible Gator Bowl participant, it’s UNC that seems to be the most likely team headed to Jacksonville. Tennessee is the possible opponent for the Tar Heels there. A matchup against Southern Cal in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 29 in El Paso, Texas, could also be a destination.
Devil of a job
Interim Duke coach Trooper Taylor has a task ahead of him after Elko followed the money to College Station. There are a lot of questions in Durham with a coaching search beginning in earnest, and there’s also uncertainty about where the 7-5 Blue Devils will go bowling.
Projections across the college football world have Duke going to the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium (Dec. 28), Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit (Dec. 26) or the Sun.
Elko might have also gotten out of town at the right time if the Blue Devils end up in Charlotte at the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, where the winning coach is doused in the condiment. Maybe the new A&M coach will pay Taylor’s dry-cleaning bill if Duke can pull off a win.
