Updating NC State football’s bowl projections entering Week 13
NC State extended its winning streak to four games this past weekend, and it is set to host North Carolina on Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium. Entering Week 13, NC State’s new bowl projections include the Gator, Military, ReliaQuest, Pop-Tarts and Sun Bowls.
There were two postseason contests that were most commonly projected for the Wolfpack’s 35th bowl appearance: the Gator and Pop-Tarts Bowls.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura , Fox Sports and USA Today were all in agreement that they thought NC State would face Tennessee in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 29 in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Pop-Tarts Bowl projections were slightly different as Action Network and Athlon Sports thought the Pack would play Kansas State in it, while ESPN’s Mark Schlabach would face Oklahoma State in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 28.
CBS Sports projects the Wolfpack to play LSU in the ReliaQuest Bowl — formerly the Outback Bowl — on New Year’s day in Tampa, Fla. Sporting News had NC State in the Sun Bowl against UCLA, which would be played in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 29, while Yahoo Sports put the Pack in the Military Bowl against UTSA in Annapolis, Md., on the same day.
NC State has appeared in 34 bowl games since 1946, including 16 since 2000. Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren is 3-4 in his seven bowl appearances at the helm of the red and white, and his last postseason victory came in the 2017 Sun Bowl, a 52-31 win over Arizona State.
Since Doeren took over as the Pack’s coach, NC State has played in the Gator Bowl twice, losses to Kentucky in 2021 and Texas A&M in 2018. His teams have also appeared in the Independence Bowl, Belk Bowl and St. Petersburg Bowl.
The Wolfpack have most commonly played in the Peach Bowl with seven previous appearances, but it has not appeared in that contest since 1994. NC State has played in the Tangerine Bowl — which is currently called Pop-Tarts — three times in program history and it is 2-1 with wins over Pitt (1978) and Kansas (2003).
NC State has not appeared in the Military Bowl or the ReliaQuest Bowl in program history, and if it would be selected for either contest, it would be the Pack’s first game in that contest.
NC State will find out where it is headed after the College Football Playoff’s final rankings are released following the conference championship game weekend. All bowl matchups and locations will be released on Dec. 3.
