WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina

UNC's bowl fate remains undecided

By Dane Huffman

Dec 3, 2008

Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolina’s bowl fate remained undecided Wednesday as the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte waited to see which team the Orlando Champs Bowl will select.

The ACC champion – either Virginia Tech or Boston College – will go to the Orange Bowl. The Chick-fil-A Bowl picks second and selected Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

The Gator Bowl will pick third and will select Clemson.

The bowls picking after the Gator had widely expected the Gator to pick Florida State. But the switch to Clemson means the Seminoles are now available for the in-state Champs Bowl.

Steve Hogan, executive director of Florida Citrus Sports, which runs the Champs, told WRAL Sunday, “Carolina – whoever gets them – is going to be very luck and very happy."

What happens now has yet to be determined – even for Charlotte.

“We’re still waiting on the Champs Bowl,” said Will Webb, executive director of the Meineke Car Care Bowl. “We’re looking at Carolina, Wake, Maryland and Miami. I really don’t know.”

Webb said he spoke with Hogan on Tuesday, and Hogan told him the bowl committee will make the final decision Sunday.

“He’s got a committee,” Webb said. “They’ve got to make a decision. You’d think with Florida State right down the road, that’d be a pretty good fit for them.”

N.C. State also remains in the hunt for a bowl, but the NCAA has told the bowls and conferences it will not allow a 6-6 team to be selected for a bowl ahead of a 7-5 team. That means State would be looking at an at-large bid despite intense interest in the Wolfpack from the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, D.C. The EagleBank has the ninth pick among ACC schools.