ACC Football News & Notes: Nine Heading to Bowl Games

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On December 4, the bowl selection show took place. The ACC did very well with nine teams making the grade. While it is true that no team from the league will take part in the college football playoff, still the high number of teams playing one more game during bowl season is impressive. The list of teams is led by Clemson who won the ACC championship game last Saturday and finished #7 in the final playoff ranking. They are heading to Miami to face Tennessee. North Carolina, #13 Florida State, #23 North Carolina State, Duke, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Wake Forest also received bowl bids. Let’s take a look at the bowl picture for the league.

For the Tigers, this marks the 18th straight bowl appearance. A streak that began back in 2005. It is the longest active streak in the league and the fifth-longest in the country. Clemson holds an overall record of 26-22 in their previous bowl games. They will be taking on a Tennessee squad that at one point this season had thoughts of a playoff berth.

North Carolina will take a two-game losing streak into their game vs Oregon in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl. This is the fourth year in a row for the Tar Heels in a bowl game. This will be the first time playing in San Diego at the Holiday Bowl. UNC will be led by freshman QB Derek Maye who had a terrific first season as the Tar Heel signal caller. This is the first time that UNC and Oregon will meet. The Ducks finished the year ranked #15 in both the AP Poll and College Football Playoff Poll.

Florida State will be making its fourth trip to the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, Florida. In their previous three appearances, the Seminoles are unbeaten at 3-0. The three wins are tied for the most in bowl history. This is the fifth time that the Seminoles and Oklahoma Sooners have met in a bowl game. The Sooners have won three of the four meetings. Florida State is 6-4 all-time in bowl matchups vs schools from the Big 12.

North Carolina State and Maryland will meet for the first time since the Terps left the league back in 2013. The overall record between the two is 33-33-4. The Wolfpack will play for the fourth time in a bowl game at Bank Of America Stadium when they meet Maryland in the Duke Mayo Bowl. NC State’s overall record in bowl games is 17-15-1.

The Louisville Cardinals are heading to Fenway Park in Boston to meet Cincinnati in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl. This will be the 19th different game that Louisville has been a part of and the Bearcats will be the 22nd different opponent they will face. Louisville has lots of experience playing football games in MLB ballparks as this will be the 11th time doing this. QB Malik Cunningham is a dual-threat quarterback who ranks high on the all-time list of quarterbacks who have played in the ACC. The two teams will also be playing for “the keg of nails” a traveling trophy given to the winner of this matchup since 1929. The Trophy signifies the winning players “were tough as nails.”

Wake Forest will be playing a bowl game in the state of Florida for the fifth time. It will be the first time in Tampa as they will meet Missouri in the Gasparilla Bowl. This will be the Demon Deacons’ seventh consecutive bowl game and 17th overall. This is the first time they will meet the Tigers on the football field.

The Duke Blue Devils head to Military Bowl in Annapolis, MD to meet the University of Central Florida. They will be doing this with the ACC Coach of the Year, Mike Elko. Duke has not fared well in these games having an overall record of 6-8. However, they have won the last three bowl games they have played in. While this will be Elko’s first bowl game as a head coach, it will not be his first bowl game. In fact, this will be his ninth overall with the eight previous games he was defensive coordinator for four other schools and he has a 5-3 record in those games. The Blue Devils and Knights will be meeting for the first time.

Syracuse will make the trip south to Yankee Stadium to play Minnesota in the Bad Boys Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. This is a rematch of the 2013 Texas Bowl in which the Orangemen defeated the Gophers 21-17. Syracuse is 2-3 vs Minnesota in bowl games. This will mark the 27th bowl game for the program and they possess a 16-9-1 record good for a .635 winning percentage in the postseason. That winning percentage is sixth-best in FBS among teams with 15 or more bowl appearances.

Pittsburgh is making its fifth trip to El Paso, Texas to play in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. They are 2-2 in the game. The Sun Bowl is the second-oldest bowl game in college football behind the Rose Bowl. They will face the UCLA Bruins, a program they have faced 14 times in the past during bowl season. It will be the first time these schools have met since 1972.

That’s a look at the ACC in bowl season so sit back and enjoy.