Official Bowl Game Thread

The ACC has a conditional tie-in with the Birmingham Bowl if it can't fill its slots, and it won't since there won't be enough SEC bowl eligible teams. We're going bowling, no need to worry

With TCU winning against Oklahoma State, that makes 81 bowl eligible teams. A VT win over Marshall would make 82 and the final bowl eligible team for this season. I like that possible Tampa match up with South Florida. I know that stadium is South Florida's home field, but the way the Deacs have been playing on the road, I say bring it on.

Classof82Deac said:

With TCU winning against Oklahoma State, that makes 81 bowl eligible teams. A VT win over Marshall would make 82 and the final bowl eligible team for this season. I like that possible Tampa match up with South Florida. I know that stadium is South Florida's home field, but the way the Deacs have been playing on the road, I say bring it on.

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It would be an interesting matchup. USF was 7-0 and have lost five in a row including 41-15 at home to Tulane. I like our chances especially having time to get healthier.

The last time WF had a crowd like that was the Rice game in the freezing rain during the Bill Dooley years.

I think it would be a push. USF isn’t good at all. Vegas doesn’t seem to trust Wake.

Cmon Dallas!

USF is 1-0 against the ACC this year.

CBS posted its bowl projections and has Wake playing in the Birmingham Bowl on 12/22 against Memphis.

The ACC’s spot in the Birmingham Bowl is contingent on that bowl’s primary conferences (the SEC and American) not filling their spots. When I went through the scenarios yesterday I completely dismissed the chances of going to Birmingham because SI’s projections have both conferences filling their spots (they have Vanderbilt projected to go to Birmingham). But CBS is projecting that the SEC will not fill its spot, and in that scenario Birmingham is squarely on the list of possibilities for Wake Forest.

Some other interesting notes from CBS’s projections:

They have an ACC team (Duke) going to the First Responders Bowl in Dallas and are not projecting an ACC team to the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa.

They have Virginia Tech included in their projections (Quick Lane), although Joe Giglio seems confident that VT will be chosen by the Military Bowl if they beat Marshall (which makes sense for the Military Bowl). But it is noteworthy that CBS's bowl projection for Wake already factors in Virginia Tech becoming bowl eligible.

They have Miami going to Shreveport.

SB Nation projects Wake Forest to the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit on December 26. Their projections do not include Virginia Tech as a bowl team. They have Miami going to the bowl game in Tampa and the ACC not sending a team to the First Responders Bowl in Dallas.

So nobody has any idea.

Isn't there a rule that all of the ACC's 7-5 or better have to be chosen before an ACC 6-6 team?

Edited N/m it's that a 6-6 team can't go to a Tier 1 ACC Bowl as long as there is a 7-5 team still available, isn't it?

I still like that Tampa bowl vs USF on the 20th scenario, but that's just me. Those day after Christmas games are hard for me to get to, but whatever. I'm still proud that our Deacs got to 6 wins and hopefully a bowl game somewhere. GO DEACS!

Giglio is your best source

One of the few things that Ronnie Mellonhead does well is get us in better bowls than our record deserves. Time to do your majic.

I was there. Was the Toilet Bowl. The two smallest schools in D-1 football, playing in miserable weather to a tie.

FWIW, I don't think VT beats Marshall next week. Thundering Herd are solid this year. VT did find a way to beat UVA last week, but injuries, suspensions and drop outs have depleted the Hokies.

CFN has us in Dallas the day after Christmas against Marshall.

For those that enjoy the nitty gritty, here is my updated breakdown of bowl possibilities after digesting the projections from SI, SB Nation and CBS and doing more research. This includes more than a little speculation on my part. I’m eager to see ESPN’s projections.

GASPARILLA BOWL (Tampa, FL)
Thursday, December 20th at 8pm against an AAC opponent
30% likely

I continue to think this is one of the most likely destinations for Wake, but I’m not as confident as I was yesterday. The 10th ACC team will head either to this bowl or to the First Responders Bowl in Dallas. But a VT win could leave 11 ACC teams as bowl eligible, pushing one ACC team lower in the bowl hierarchy. SB Nation has raised the idea that Miami (FL) would be a good geographic fit. Also, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Wake try to steer itself away from this one given the proximity to exams.

BIRMINGHAM BOWL (Birmingham, AL)
Saturday, December 22nd against an AAC opponent
30% likely

The ACC will send a team to this bowl if 1) VT becomes bowl eligible AND 2) the SEC doesn’t fill their slot. If I follow it correctly, the SEC will not fill this slot if they put 3 teams into the New Year’s Six bowls (presumably Georgia, Florida and LSU). If a team like LSU falls out of the NY6, I think the SEC uses their spot in Birmingham and this bowl is off the table for Wake/ACC.

FIRST RESPONDERS BOWL (Dallas, TX)
Wednesday, December 26th at 1:30pm against a conference TBD
20% likely

This bowl only comes into the picture in one of two scenarios.
Scenario #1: the ACC sends the 10th team here instead of Tampa. This doesn’t make much sense unless the ACC finds Tampa unattractive because of the proximity to exams.
Scenario #2: if VT becomes an 11th bowl eligible team AND the SEC fills their spot in Birmingham AND the Big 10 doesn’t fill their slot. This scenario would have the ACC basically filling this spot as an at-large team. Note that no one seems to think that the Big 10 will fill this bowl slot.

QUICK LANE BOWL (Detroit, MI)
Wednesday, December 26th at 1:30pm against a Big 10 team
15% likely

Realistically, this bowl likely only comes into the picture if Virginia Tech does not become bowl eligible. Even then, it would require another ACC team to get pushed down to either Tampa or Dallas. That could happen if, for example, there was a geographic pairing of Miami and the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa.

OTHER BOWLS
5% likely
If VT loses to Marshall, I guess there is a chance Wake ends up in Shreveport. But there are probably better geographic fits for that game, and it would still require another ACC team to head to either Tampa or Dallas.
If VT becomes bowl eligible and the Birmingham Bowl isn’t available for the 11th ACC team, the most obvious choice would seem to be Dallas. But if that falls through, the other options are not clear. Maybe the Frisco Bowl outside of Dallas, TX? Most of the others look like they will fill their slots with their normal conference affiliations.

I’m guessing there is no chance that Wake stays at home, although I will be anxious about that until everything is settled. It’s hard to envision that an 11th ACC team would be shut out of both Dallas and Birmingham.
The teams projected to say at home are teams like Wyoming and Miami (OH). One set of projections that came out this morning had BYU staying home.

Welcome back from the dead, '94. Miss reading your recruiting summations. Hope we avoid Dec 26th.

Hemphill officially named our DC! Well deserved!

Brightest spot of that news is that he gets the bowl practice season to start installing his system.