The North Carolina Tar Heels limped into bowl season during December, hoping to end a tumultuous campaign with one final win.
UNC faced UConn in the Fenway Bowl, which essentially proved to be a home game for the Huskies. Several key North Carolina players missed their postseason matchup due to opt-outs – and it showed on the field, with the Tar Heels losing 27-14 and never able to generate offense or get stops.
The ACC, as a whole, struggled as it tries to prove its worth as a Top-3 conference. Syracuse and Louisville were the only ACC programs to win a bowl game, while UNC, Cal, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Boston College, NC State, Duke, SMU, Clemson and Virginia Tech all lost.
With the ACC’s lackluster showing in postseason football, it should come as no surprise it was named amongst USA TODAY Sports’ “losers” in bowl season.
“If under much less scrutiny than the SEC, this has been a nightmare run for the ACC, starting with both SMU and Clemson losing on the road in the opening round of the playoff,” USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg wrote. “Overall, the league went 2-11 in bowl play, with wins from Syracuse (Washington State in the Holiday Bowl) and Louisville (Washington in the Sun Bowl). In addition to N.C. State, the worst losses have come from Pittsburgh, which fell 48-46 in six overtimes to Toledo in the GameAbove Sports Bowl; Miami, which dropped a 42-41 decision to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl; and North Carolina, which turned the page to the Bill Belichick era by losing 27-14 to Connecticut in the Fenway Bowl.”
The Tar Heels should give their conference something to be proud of in 2025, thanks to new head coach Bill Belichick, but the ACC is no longer the premier conference it once was.
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