Updating NC State’s bowl projections entering Selection Sunday
The day has finally arrived. Selection Sunday is here and NC State will find out what bowl it is headed to this afternoon.
The Wolfpack, which finished the season 6-6, is set to make its fifth straight appearance in a postseason game under coach Dave Doeren. Its bowl projections have featured a wide array of locations over the past few weeks, but the final look at them offers a slightly better idea of where the Pack could end up.
NC State’s predicted landing spots include the Armed Forces, Birmingham, Military and First Responder Bowls going into the decision day.
Sporting News slotted the Pack in the Armed Forces Bowl against North Texas, which is set for Dec. 27 at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium. The Athletic, Bleacher Report and College Football Network, meanwhile, both had NC State playing in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 27 at Protective Stadium against either Vanderbilt (The Athletic & B/R) or Oklahoma (CFN).
NC State has previously played in a bowl hosted in Birmingham, Ala., twice in program history — the 1990 All-American Bowl (a 31-27 win over Southern Miss) and the 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl (a 29-23 loss to Rutgers).
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While a return to Birmingham is an option, so is the Military Bowl. Action Network and ESPN’s Mark Schlabach have projected the Wolfpack to square off with East Carolina in the game hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy on Dec. 28 in Annapolis, Md. NC State and ECU are scheduled to open the 2025 season against each other inside Carter-Finley Stadium on Aug. 30.
Rounding out the final set of bowl projections is ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura, who believed the Pack would play in the First Responder Bowl against Texas Tech at SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium on Jan. 3.
The Pack has appeared in eight bowl games under Doeren, but NC State has not won in the postseason since it beat Arizona State 52-31 in the 2017 Sun Bowl. The Wolfpack lost to Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl last season.
NC State has also played in the Belk, Duke’s Mayo, Gator, Independence, and St. Petersburg Bowls during Doeren’s tenure.
