Here's where NC State, North Carolina and Duke will play this bowl season
Posted December 3, 2023 4:47 p.m. EST
Updated December 4, 2023 5:52 p.m. EST
The college football season has been a winding road for NC State, North Carolina and Duke, but it all led to the same place - a postseason bowl berth.
With the College Football Playoff set and ready to roll with absolutely zero controversy of any kind, bowl matchups were slowly announced over the course of Sunday afternoon.
NC State: Pop-Tarts Bowl
Opponent: No. 25 Kansas State Wildcats
Date: December 28, 5:45 p.m. on ESPN
Place: Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Fla.
The Wolfpack took what started as a tumultuous season and turned it into one of the better campaigns in head coach Dave Doeren’s tenure. Since its open week in mid-October, NC State is on a five-game winning streak, including a thrashing of in-state rival North Carolina to end the regular season.
NC State’s offense went from inept to explosive, using a combination of the talents of ACC freshman of the year KC Concepcion and the reemergence of Virginia transfer quarterback Brendan Armstrong. The Wolfpack averaged 28.8 points per game during its win streak.
While the offense has grown, the defense is the tone-setter. Led by 2023 ACC defensive player of the year, Payton Wilson.
Now, the Wolfpack are aiming to accomplish something that’s only happened once before in program history: win 10 games. Under Doeren, NC State has won nine games in a season on three separate occasions. The Wolfpack won 11 games in the 2002 season, led by head coach Chuck Amato and quarterback Philip Rivers. NC State picked up its 11th win of the season that year in the Gator Bowl, beating Notre Dame 28-6.
After the game, the coach of the winning team will be allowed to take a bite out of a live Pop-Tart mascot. Doeren had an interesting idea for how he would handle that.
"Can I chase down the Pop-Tart with a nice bourbon or something like that afterwords?" Doeren said during a media availability. "Is that part of the Pop-Tart experience or not?"
Duke: 76 Birmingham Bowl
Opponent: Troy Trojans
Date: Dec. 23, Kickoff: noon on ABC
Location: Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Ala.
After a 5-1 start to the season, the Blue Devils finished 2-4 with injuries to quarterback Riley Leonard proving to be the main road block. He won’t be there for Duke this postseason, as he announced his departure from the program last week.
Head coach Mike Elko also won’t be there either! Elko is the new head coach in College Station for the Texas A&M Aggies. Duke athletics director Nina King said associate head coach and running backs coach Troop Taylor will serve as the interim head coach in the meantime.
Duke (7-5, 4-4 ACC) will play in its second consecutive bowl game for the first time since 2017-2018.
The biggest question for the Blue Devils is all the questions - who will enter the transfer portal between now and then? Will freshman Grayson Loftis continue to start at quarterback or could we see Henry Belin IV get into the mix or will his upper body injury continue to limit him? How will Mike Elko’s departure impact Duke? We’ll start to get answers with Duke’s final game of the season.
Earlier reports suggested the Blue Devils were going to play UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl, but bowl organizers switched the pairings to avoid a rematch of last season's Military Bowl where Duke faced UCF, according to college football insider Brett McMurphy.
UNC: Duke's Mayo Bowl
Opponent: West Virginia Mountaineers
Date: Dec. 27, Kickoff: 5:30 p.m. on ESPN
Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
It’s a tale of two seasons for North Carolina football. After starting the season 6-0, the Tar Heels struggled down the stretch, losing four of its final six games, including back-to-back losses to end the season on the road against Clemson and NC State. The loss to the Wolfpack in Carter-Finley Stadium especially left a bad taste in the mouths of Carolina fans. Winning a bowl game to end the season always helps to make things feel better.
The big question for UNC will be who will suit up? Superstar quarterback Drake Maye is in the mix for top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and had yet to make a decision about playing after the NC State loss in November. Maye comes from a long line of Carolina athletes and grew up a fan of the program, so that may factor into his decision-making process, but ultimately the quarterback would gain little in terms of his NFL stock from a non-playoff bowl appearance.
Keep an eye on Tar Heel running back Omarion Hampton. His stellar sophomore season is marching its way through the UNC history books. He’s four rushing touchdowns away from tying Don McCauley and Javonte Williams for the program record 19 rushing scores. He needs 21 rushing yards to tie Elijah Hood for second-most all-time in a single UNC season and 278 to tie all-time leading rusher McCauley.
