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.