DTH sports editors predict how ACC Championship Game will affect UNC's bowl plans

The Orange Bowl or a lackluster finale? Our three sports editors make their predictions for how Saturday's ACC Championship Game will see UNC's season play out.

Jared McMasters, sports editor

It's essentially set in stone that UNC is going to be facing Texas A&M in the Orange Bowl next month.

After the Fighting Irish narrowly beat out a depleted Clemson team in double overtime, 47-40, they created a dream scenario for the two schools — one where it's almost impossible for both programs to not make the College Football Playoff. Let me explain.

Alabama and Ohio State are basically shoo-ins to win their respective conference championships, especially after Florida couldn't even handle an unranked LSU squad that was missing players left and right.

If Clemson wins and Notre Dame looks fine — the most likely scenario — both teams should easily stay in the top four.

If the Irish don't even have a pulse against the Tigers, the committee still isn't likely to drop them three-plus spots for going 1-1 against Clemson this season. Keep in mind that Florida only fell from No. 6 to No. 7 after that bad LSU loss.

Here's the only situation where things could get weird: Notre Dame demolishes Dabo Swinney and Trevor Lawrence. I know, it sounds crazy. We're talking about a quarterback who's been labeled a No. 1 NFL prospect for years and didn't even suffer his first collegiate loss until the end of his sophomore year, when he faced arguably the best offense in college football history.

Even if the Irish did crush Clemson, though, I don't know if the committee members have it in them to leave the vaunted Tigers out of the top four, but that's the only real scenario in which there's any possibility both programs don't make the Playoff. So, where does that leave UNC? Facing off against the No. 5 Aggies in a New Year's Six bowl for one of North Carolina's biggest games of the last 50 years.

Prediction: UNC, hoping for a final score similar to last weekend's game against the Hurricanes, makes another trip down to Miami for the Orange Bowl.

PJ Morales, assistant sports editor

Sorry to disappoint, Tar Heel fans, but I’ve come to the conclusion that Notre Dame’s run defense this year is the real deal. Travis Etienne, Michael Carter and Javonte Williams are three of the ACC’s top running backs, and none of them could rush for more than 60 yards this year against the stout front-seven of the Fighting Irish. 

But Clemson's star quarterback Trevor Lawrence didn’t play against Notre Dame earlier this year. Is his return the answer for the Tigers in the ACC Championship Game? Maybe, but the Irish proved how adept they are at stopping quarterbacks, holding Sam Howell and UNC to just three points after the first quarter. I don’t think Lawrence will fare much better. 

Clemson wasn’t able to defeat the Fighting Irish earlier this year, and I don’t think it’ll be able to in the ACC Championship Game. With conference champ Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff, Texas A&M has a strong case for the No. 4 spot in the rankings, and two-loss Clemson will take a trip to Miami for the Orange Bowl.

As for UNC, well, I hope the Cheez-It Bowl is a decent enough consolation prize for the massive improvements the Tar Heels have made this year, even if it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

Prediction: UNC will have to settle for the Cheez-It Bowl this year.

Zachary Crain, assistant sports editor

Everyone’s heard the old adage, “it’s hard to beat a team twice in one season,” and in the case of Clemson, you can take that a step further. It’s hard to beat the Tigers twice consecutively at all — the most recent team to outdo them in back-to-back years was Florida State in 2013 and 2014. 

When Notre Dame beat Clemson earlier this year in South Bend, the Tigers were short of future No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence and a host of defensive talent due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols. Still, Clemson’s replacement quarterback, D.J. Uiagalelei, threw for 439 yards and forced the game into double overtime. While it may sound crazy, don’t expect Lawrence, possibly the best player in college football, to make up the difference all by himself.

Instead, look for a healthy Clemson front-seven to attack Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book and keep the Fighting Irish off the scoreboard late like the Tar Heels and depleted Tigers defenses couldn’t in Notre Dame’s two tightest battles during its undefeated regular season. 

After the Irish kept Clemson running back Travis Etienne from reaching the 30-yard mark earlier in the year, the senior is due for a revenge game and should break away for some key runs late. 

Expect Clemson to come away with a close victory, as the Tigers keep the Irish from repeating their 47-point offensive explosion from November and clinch a berth for both the Tigers and Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff. 

As for North Carolina, an Orange Bowl date with Texas A&M — the program’s first major bowl appearance since 1949 — should be in order with Ohio State clinching the final spot in the Playoff with a victory in the Big Ten title game.

Prediction: Clemson clenches UNC’s first major bowl berth since 1949.

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