EARLY Bowl Talk - StateFans Nation StateFans Nation

The News & Observer had a nice summary today to help form some EARLY thoughts about this season’s ACC Bowl picture.

About NC State, JP Giglio says:

Even if the Wolfpack — 4-4 after last week’s win at Florida State — stumbles at Boston College, it still finishes with home games against Middle Tennessee and Maryland. At 6-5, that would put State on Charlotte’s wish list for the Dec. 31 game against a Big East team. Remember, Charlotte had UNC and Boston College last season. It could be a “red” New Year’s with N.C. State and Rutgers from the Big East.

I shared these exact thoughts with some friengs earlier this week — I think the existence of the Mieneke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte is very beneficial to the Pack this year. My biggest fear related to this scenario for the Wolfpack would be that Clemson finds a way to muster a win in its last two games against Florida State &/or South Carolina. A 6-5 Tiger team that beat the Wolfpack could be even more attractive to the bowl than a 6-5 Wolfpack team (although the Pack would definitely be ‘hotter’).

The Charlotte Observer supported these thoughts today.

The happiest people in the Carolinas last week were the Meineke Car Care Bowl officials, who saw North Carolina and N.C. State defeat ranked teams to remain in contention for bowl eligibility and a possible bid to the Dec. 31 bowl in Charlotte.

Some Wolfpackers got excited by some comments made by a Peach Bowl Official that were published in the News & Observer last week. The ONLY way that I can see the Wolfpack slide into the Peach Bowl is if State wins out to go 7-4 AND the ACC finds a way to squeeze two teams into the BCS with with at-large bids. No reason to go into the mechanics of it so early…but, those mechanics will probably include a loss by Notre Dame before the end of the season.

If State were to finish 7-4, the Pack would have won 5 in a row, with 4 of those wins against potential bowl teams (including the Atlantic Division Champion, Florida State). This should be enough to make the Pack a very strong consideration for anyone.

Lots of “ifs” in all of his. Of course, all of this talk is only relevant for another few hours and things could look very different after Saturday’s games.

7 Responses to EARLY Bowl Talk

Jeff 11/14/2005 at 8:21 AM #

Update after the Boston Beat down:

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1128768135085&path=!sports&s=1037645509200

State, 4-5 overall and 2-5 in the ACC, is in one of the least-favorable positions of all the ACC teams in the running for bowl bids. It must beat Middle Tennessee and then Maryland at home on Nov. 26 just to get to 6-5 and bowl eligible.

The ACC has six bowl tie-ins. Seven teams – 8-1 Miami, 8-1 Virginia Tech, 7-3 Florida State, 7-3 Boston College, 6-3 Georgia Tech, 6-3 Virginia, and 6-4 Clemson – are already bowl eligible. Maryland is 5-4, and 4-5 North Carolina still has a chance to get to 6-5.

Even if the ACC picks up some extra bowl spots, State could win out and be on the outside looking in. Had it beaten Boston College and run the table to finish with five straight wins, it would have seemed a virtual lock for some kind of bid, somewhere, at 7-4.

Instead, even with a victory over Maryland it is assured of no better than a tie for last place in the ACC Atlantic Division. And Middle Tennessee will be its second Division I-AA nonconference opponent.
Trout 11/14/2005 at 9:40 AM #

^ Believe it or not, Middle Tenn State is 1A, not 1AA.

I think Clemson is looking stronger for Charlotte now. GT and NC State are slipping. I think NC State at 6-5 is more attractive than GT at 6-5.

Can the ACC get teams into open slots in the Liberty and the Music City?
Alpha Wolf 11/14/2005 at 4:03 PM #

Apparently, the research department at the WSJ was nursing a hangover from the UNC loss. MTSU is most certainly D1, and they beat Vandy this year to end their streak. Pack fans expecting a bye might get a nasty surprise…the MTSU OL is big, and that’s typically bad news for State.

Clemson might get the nod for the Tire Bowl, but if they get blown out big by SCar, don’t they become a little less attractive? Clemson is very up and down, and the game is in Columbia. SCar players and fans are going to want a win in the worst way, and Darth Visor certainly understands the importance of beating arch-rivals. Clemson will need one of their best games of the season.

But first things first — beat MTSU and this discussion is worth having.
smile 11/14/2005 at 4:24 PM #

Finishing last in the conf division, and we’re debating which of the least bowl opportunitites we might attend, earned on the back of a weak non-con schedule. This is what it has come to.
Jeff 11/14/2005 at 5:54 PM #

The Poinsetta Bowl in San Diego has an at-large opportunity. I still don’t think that we would get that @ 6-5 right now.
SaccoV 11/14/2005 at 6:40 PM #

I can’t wait for Chuck to talk about how the last game against Maryland will be “OUR national championship,” in a pathetic attempt to motivate the players into playing at least halfway to their potential. Considering that there are no excuses, there are no more places to hide, how in the world does Lee Fowler now get a free pass with all this? I mean, should someone (besides us) really starting pointing the finger at him to right the ship? Regardless of how open-minded you look at the situation, our football team has gone bowl-less for two years, yet we funded the renovated stadium and shiny, new football fieldhouse. The basketball team took ten years to get back to the Sweet 16. The media treats the average State fan as a recent departee from Dorothea Dix and turns a blind-eye to the intransigent AD who has made no significant improvement to the athletics program. Folks, trust me on this one. It doesn’t pay to be a Statefan these days.
Class of '74 11/15/2005 at 6:49 AM #

I agree. The football program is floating aimlessly along and if the basketball season goes badly then look out. It may be very warm in Raleigh this winter afterall.