For the ACC and Notre Dame there is plenty of post-season bowl action in store with a total of 11 invitations. Rest assured, all have been accepted as you can tell from the list below. Among conference teams Pitt gets the top slot in bowls as the winner of their duel with Wake Forest in the ACC Football Championship game. The Panthers will head to Atlanta to take on the Big Ten’s Michigan State. Notre Dame by virtue of their CFP ranking at No. 5 heads to the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona to take on Oklahoma State.
The bowls offer an incredible opportunity for each program to gain additional national exposure and traction in the recruiting wars. A good showing, i.e., a win can often be the difference maker for a young recruit and his family when they watch the game from the comfort of their home.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi was the Spartans’ defensive coordinator for eight seasons before he took over the Panthers’ program. Is it a bit of a homecoming? Not really but bank on Narduzzi enjoying a win over his old team.
Notre Dame’s matchup with Oklahoma is one of two games on the list that are part of the New Year’s Eve Six. The Irish have methodically made their way up the ladder this season. The departure of Brian Kelly to LSU late in the season came as a bit of surprise and it remains to be seen if it has an impact on the performance of the team.
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Wake Forest may have come out on the short end in the ACC Championship but they did earn a trip to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. The last time these two teams met in post-season action the Deacs came away a 55-52 winner.
Bowls
NC State will head west to San Diego to play in one of the new bowls on the post-season list, the Holiday Bowl. They’ll meet the PAC-12’s UCLA.
The Cheez-It Bowl will feature Clemson and Iowa State. The Tigers have seen the departure of long-time defensive coordinator Brent Venables and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott has been seen making the rounds of of interviews. This will be Clemson’s 48th bowl appearance.
Annapolis will be the setting for the Military Bowl featuring East Carolina against Boston College. This is the Eagles fifth post-season appearance in the last six seasons.
The First Responder Bowl will feature Air Force and Louisville in Dallas which will be the first time for the Cardinals at this venue.
Pitt Wins The ACC Football Championship
Miami heads to El Paso where they’ll take on Washington State in the Sun Bowl. This will be the Canes ninth straight post-season appearance.
North and South Carolina won’t have far to go as they meet in Charlotte for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. This meeting holds the promise of the a big crowd and an interesting tussle between Mack Brown and Shane Beamer.
Bronco Mendenhall wants to leave Virginia with a bigger bang than his resignation announcement. His opportunity will come in the Fenway Bowl in Boston as the Wahoos meet SMU.
Virginia Tech will play in the Pinstripe Bowl in New York City for the first time as they face off with former ACC foe Maryland. Prior to opting out of bowl action in 2020 due to COVID, when it comes to bowls the Hokies have been eligible for 29 straight seasons.
ACC+1 Bowls Schedule
DATE | BOWL-TEAMS | TIME-TV |
MON DEC 27 | MILITARY BOWL – ECU VS BOSTON COLLEGE | 2:30PM ET ESPN |
TUE DEC 28 | FIRST RESPONDERS BOWL – AIR FORCE VS LOUISVILLE | 3:15PM ET ESPN |
HOLIDAY BOWL – NC STATE VS UCLA | 8:00PM ET FOX | |
WED DEC 29 | FENWAY BOWL – VIRGINIA VS SMU | 11:00AM ET ESPN |
PINSTRIPE BOWL – VIRGINIA TECH VS MARYLAND | 2:15PM ET ESPN | |
CHEEZ-IT BOWL – CLEMSON VS IOWA STATE | 5:45PM ET ESPN | |
THUR DEC 30 | DUKE’S MAYO BOWL – NORTH CAROLINA VS SOUTH CAROLINA | 11:30AM ET ESPN |
PEACH BOWL – MICHIGAN STATE VS PITTSBURG | 7:00PM ET ESPN | |
FRI DEC 31 | GATOR BOWL – WAKE FOREST VS TEXAS A&M | 11:00AM ET ESPN |
SUN BOWL – WASHINGTON STATE VS MIAMI | 12:00PM ET CBS | |
SAT JAN 1 | FIESTA BOWL – NOTRE DAME VS OKLAHOMA STATE | 1:00PM ET ESPN |
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