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ACC Bowl Projection Roundup, Pre-Championship Week

Consensus wisdom has the Panthers in the Sun Bowl (against Stanford or Utah) or the Pinstripe Bowl (against a Big Ten team) with less than a week to go before invitations get sent out.

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Notre Dame v Pittsburgh Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

With regular ACC play concluded, eleven of the fourteen teams in the conference (all but Virginia, Duke, and Syracuse) have reached the six-win plateau needed to go bowling. Clemson, barring a loss to Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game, is expected to go the playoff, but from there it’s a shuffle - opinion is split between whether Florida State or Louisville will go to the Orange Bowl, and it ripples out further from there.

There is a remote possibility for a Backyard Brawl in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Many fans may enjoy seeing that.

Notre Dame is eligible for the ACC's bowl tie-ins, but is not included here because they went 4-8 and aren’t going bowling. I've included bowl payouts (source) as a metric of the prestige of the bowl, to remind us all of the inextricable link between commerce and nominally "amateur" athletics, and because the gift suites are probably better at the nicer bowls. Bowl payouts are not included for the playoff games and selection committee bowls because they are still to be determined. I’ve included “last Pitt visit” for additional selection context.

Projections Used

College Football Playoff
December 31st/Atlanta or Glendale, AZ
Last Pitt Visit: Never

  • Clemson vs. Ohio State (FOX, ESPN-1, ESPN-2, SI, SN, CFN, Ath, CBS, USA)
  • Clemson vs. Washington (SBN)

Orange Bowl
December 30th/Miami
Last Pitt Visit: Never

  • Louisville vs. Michigan (SBN, ESPN-2, SI)
  • Florida State vs. Michigan (FOX, ESPN-1, SN, CFN, Ath, CBS, USA)

Citrus Bowl
December 31st/Orlando/$4,250,000
Last Pitt Visit: 1978

  • Florida State vs. LSU (ESPN-2, SI)
  • Louisville vs. Florida (SN, CBS)
  • Louisville vs. LSU (FOX, ESPN-1, Ath, USA)
  • Virginia Tech vs. Florida (CFN)
  • Virginia Tech vs. LSU (SBN)

TaxSlayer Bowl
December 31st/Jacksonville/$2,750,000
Last Pitt Visit: 1980

  • Georgia Tech vs. Arkansas (ESPN-2)
  • Georgia Tech vs. Kentucky (FOX, ESPN-1)
  • Miami vs. Arkansas (SI, USA)
  • Miami vs. Kentucky (Ath)
  • Miami vs. Georgia (CFN)
  • Miami vs. Tennessee (SBN)
  • North Carolina vs. Tennessee (CBS)
  • Virginia Tech vs. Texas A&M (SN)

Russell Athletic Bowl
December 28th/Orlando/$2,275,000
Last Pitt Visit: 2001

  • Florida State vs. West Virginia (SBN)
  • Louisville vs. West Virginia (CFN)
  • Miami vs. West Virginia (FOX, ESPN-1, ESPN-2)
  • North Carolina vs. Oklahoma State (SN)
  • BACKYARD BRAWL (Ath)
  • Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma State (SI, CBS)
  • Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia (USA)

Sun Bowl
December 30th/El Paso, TX/$2,150,000
Last Pitt Visit: 2008

  • Georgia Tech vs. Stanford (SI, SN, Ath)
  • Georgia Tech vs. Utah (CBS)
  • Pitt vs. Stanford (FOX, SBN, CFN)
  • Pitt vs. Utah (ESPN-1, ESPN-2, USA)

Pinstripe Bowl
December 28th/Bronx, NY/$2,000,000
Last Pitt Visit: Never

  • Georgia Tech vs. Maryland (SBN)
  • Georgia Tech vs. Northwestern (CFN, USA)
  • North Carolina vs. Iowa (ESPN-2)
  • North Carolina vs. Maryland (Ath)
  • North Carolina vs. Minnesota (ESPN-1)
  • North Carolina vs. Northwestern (FOX)
  • Pitt vs. Northwestern (SI, SN, CBS)

Belk Bowl
December 29th/Charlotte/$1,700,000
Last Pitt Visit: 2009

  • North Carolina vs. Arkansas (CFN)
  • North Carolina vs. Kentucky (SBN, USA)
  • North Carolina vs. Tennessee (SI)
  • Miami vs. Arkansas (CBS)
  • Miami vs. South Carolina (SN)
  • Virginia Tech vs. Arkansas (FOX, ESPN-1, Ath)
  • Virginia Tech vs. Kentucky (ESPN-2)

Independence Bowl
December 26th/Shreveport, LA/$1,200,000
Last Pitt Visit: Never

  • NC State vs. Georgia (SN)
  • NC State vs. Vanderbilt (SBN, SI, USA)
  • Wake Forest vs. Georgia (ESPN-1)
  • Wake Forest vs. South Carolina (CFN, Ath)
  • Wake Forest vs. Vanderbilt (FOX, ESPN-2)

Quick Lane Bowl
December 26th/Detroit/$1,200,000
Last Pitt Visit: Never - the Quick Lane Bowl is not the Little Caesars Bowl

  • Boston College vs. Maryland (FOX, ESPN-1, ESPN-2, SI, CBS)
  • Boston College vs. Northwestern (SBN, Ath)
  • Wake Forest vs. Maryland (SN, USA)

Military Bowl
December 27th/Annapolis, MD/$1,000,000
Last Pitt Visit: 2015

  • Boston College vs. Temple (USA)
  • NC State vs. Houston (CFN, Ath)
  • NC State vs. Temple (FOX, ESPN-1, ESPN-2)
  • Wake Forest vs. Houston (SBN)
  • Wake Forest vs. Temple (SI)

St. Petersburg Bowl
December 26th/St. Petersburg, FL/$537,500
Last Pitt Visit: Never

  • Boston College vs. South Florida (SN, CFN)
  • Wake Forest vs. South Florida (CBS)

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