Tar Heels wait for bowl pick

The North Carolina Tar Heels didn’t have long to savor their victory at rival Duke on Saturday.

As players ushered in to the visitors’ locker room at Wallace Wade Stadium, questions quickly turned from UNC’s hard-fought victory to speculation about where the Tar Heels will go bowling later this month for the first time since 2004.

Some players simply said they will be grateful to go to whichever bowl chooses UNC. Others offered their cities of choice, or what conferences they’d most like to square off against.

But sophomore safety Deunta Williams was bolder when it came to where he thought his team should play.

“Where ever the national championship game is,” he joked.

Of course, North Carolina isn’t in the mix for a BCS title — and Williams added that he was “just kidding.”

But there are a few noteworthy bowls that look like possible destinations: the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta; the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando; the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn.; and the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl gets the first choice of ACC squads after the FedEx Orange Bowl, and the bowl has sent a representative to most of UNC’s games. The Champs Sports Bowl is fourth in the pecking order, followed by the Music City Bowl and the Car Care Bowl.

Scott Ramsey, president and CEO of the Music City Bowl, said each bowl’s selection hinges on the outcome of Saturday’s ACC Championship Game in Tampa, Fla.

“I think that North Carolina would be a great fit for us,” Ramsey said. “But there’s a lot of parity in the conference. I think we have to see how it will play out in front of us.”

At 8-4, 4-4 in the ACC, the Tar Heels are at the mercy of the title game’s outcome and the whims of the bowl committees on Sunday.

If Boston College wins, Ramsey said Florida State and Georgia Tech could become possible picks for the Chick-fil-A Bowl and the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

If Virginia Tech wins, he said BC could end up playing in Nashville because the Eagles played in Jacksonville and Orlando last year in the ACC title game and Champs Sports Bowl, respectively.

As far as the Music City Bowl is concerned, North Carolina fits the requirements of a potential candidate: a team that travels well, is on the rebound and has a fan base within driving distance.

Regardless of where the Tar Heels end up playing, coach Butch Davis said bowl games have a tremendous impact on a program.

That includes the 10 to 15 additional practices UNC gets for participating in a bowl, and the recruiting boost it enjoys when high schoolers visit the Tar Heels as they prep for their postseason destination.

“If you’re fortunate enough to be a program that gets a chance to go to bowl games every single year,” Davis said, “it’s unbelievably invaluable for your football program.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.