North Carolina college football teams headed for bowls
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Four of central North Carolina's college football teams have been invited to play in bowl games.
Duke and Arizona State have accepted invitations to meet on Saturday, Dec. 27, for the 81st edition of the Hyundai Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
"Arizona State has been here before and everybody knows the name Duke, not only because of their basketball tradition but because they've been playing good football the last few years. We are all very excited and we think it's going to be a great game and a great day for El Paso," said Sun Bowl Association Football Committee Chairman John Folmer.
NC State has accepted a bid to play AAC opponent UCF in the 2014 Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. on December 26. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN.
"We are both excited and thankful for the opportunity to play in the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl," said head coach Dave Doeren.
The University of North Carolina and Rutgers University will play in the inaugural 2014 Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field on Friday, December 26 at 4:30 PM. The game will air nationally on ESPN.
It will be head coach Larry Fedora's second consecutive bowl appearance with the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels ended their regular season with a stunning 35-7 loss to rival North Carolina State. But North Carolina beat Pittsburgh and Duke in the previous weeks to become bowl eligible.
Rutgers finished 7-5 in its first season as a member of the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights rallied from 25 down to stun Maryland 41-38 in their regular season finale.
It will be the seventh overall meeting between North Carolina and Rutgers and the fifth since 2006.
And ECU will meet Florida in the Birmingham Bowl, in Birmingham, Alabama Jan. 3 at 1 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPN or ESPN2.
East Carolina is 8-4 after losing to UCF on a desperation pass in the regular season finale. The Pirates had rallied from a 26-9 deficit in the fourth quarter.
"We are looking forward to the challenge of playing Florida, a program rich in tradition out of a conference which has our highest respect," East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill said. "We are excited to have another opportunity to accomplish something special for this senior class, especially against a team the caliber of the Gators."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
