Bowl schedule set for NC teams

NC State is staying close to home to face an old foe and North Carolina is headed to the West Coast.

Duke is back in a bowl game for the first time in four years and Wake Forest is going bowling for the seventh straight year.

ECU gets to close the season with a different Carolina.

The bowl season is here headlined by the No. 23 Wolfpack’s trip to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte on Dec. 30 to take on former ACC rival Maryland (7-5). The Wolfpack and Terrapins have played 70 times but not since 2013, when the Terps beat the Wolfpack 41-21 in coach Dave Doeren's first season.

The Terps left the ACC for the Big Ten the next year and the two haven't played in football or men's basketball since, ending one of the great rivalries.

This is NC State's fourth trip to the bowl game in Charlotte but first since 2015.

The Tar Heels (9-4), who lost to Clemson in the ACC title game on Saturday night, will be making the trip to San Diego on Dec. 28 for the Holiday Bowl to take on No. 15 Oregon (9-3).

The Heels lost in the Duke's Mayo Bowl last season and are 1-2 in bowl games since Mack Brown's return to Chapel Hill in 2019.

After going 1-17 in the ACC the previous two years, the Blue Devils popped to 5-3 in the ACC in coach Mike Elko’s first season and will take on UCF in the Military Bowl on Dec. 28.

The Golden Knights reached the American Athletic Conference championship game but lost to Tulane. Duke has won its past three bowl games, going back to the Independence Bowl win over Temple in 2018.

The Demon Deacons (7-5) will get an early start to the bowl season with a matchup with Missouri (6-6) on Dec. 23 in the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa. Dave Clawson has led the Deacs to the postseason for seven straight years with a 4-2 record in those games.

The Pirates (7-5) take on Coastal Carolina (9-3) in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 27. ECU qualified for the Military Bowl last year under coach Mike Houston but the game was canceled after Boston College had COVID issues.

ECU hasn't played in a bowl game since 2014 and last won a bowl game in 2013.

BOWL SCHEDULE

Dec. 23 Gasparilla Bowl (at Tampa): Wake Forest (7-5) vs. Missouri (6-6)

Dec. 27 Birmingham Bowl: ECU (7-5) vs. Coastal Carolina (9-3)

Dec. 28 Military Bowl (at Annapolis, Md.): Duke (8-4) vs. UCF (9-4)

Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl (at San Diego): UNC (9-4) vs. Oregon (9-3)

Dec. 30 Dec. Duke’s Mayo Bowl (at Charlotte): NC State (8-4) vs. Maryland (7-5)

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