NC State in the Orange Bowl? It Can Happen

NC State could go to the Orange Bowl.

”NC State” and “Orange Bowl” aren’t usually found in the same sentence.

But who cares about what “usually” happens anyway?

Not this NC State team.

If the season were to end today, NC State would represent the ACC in the Orange Bowl.

Here’s how this works: The highest ranking ACC team in the CFP Top 25 that is not in the Playoffs will go to the Orange Bowl. Currently, 2 ACC members rank in the CFP Top-4 (Clemson #2 & Miami #3). Therefore, NC State is the highest ranking team in the ACC that would not be in the playoffs, coming in at #19.

Since it’s not the end of the season yet, what needs to happen between now and then? In a nutshell, Clemson and Miami need to stay in the Top 4. To do this, they both need to win their last two regular season games. Clemson needs to beat Miami in the ACC Championship game, because the Tigers will have no chance at the playoffs with two losses. Miami will need to destroy their two opponents before the Tigers, erasing some of their close wins in games that shouldn’t have been closefrom voters minds. If these two things happen, the voters will also have to keep in a one-loss Miami over a possibly undefeated Wisconsin, or another 1-loss team like Oklahoma, who might have a better resume.

To check  out a more detailed breakdown of NC State’s bowl possibilities, check out Joe Giglio’s article.