The Tar Heels have even more at stake than we thought.

After wondering whether someone, or some thing, would turn today’s scheduled game into the “Hold the Mayo Bowl,” the battle of the Carolinas will apparently go on as planned at 11:30 a.m. in Bank of America Stadium.

And the border battle in the border city of Charlotte has an interesting match-up with different goals for the one-time bitter rivals. The Gamecocks, under rookie head coach Shane Beamer, are 6-6 and going for a winning record that would be a mighty accomplishment considering:

They used so many quarterbacks this season, including a graduate student coach pressed into action, that everyone stopped counting.

And they’re on the uptick under a 44-year-old coach whose arrival coincides with the end of Clemson’s ACC and in-state dominance.

Conversely, all the pressure is on the Tar Heels to finish 7-6, which would be a third straight winning record that Mack Brown can spin into a “great season.” His third UNC entry, part 2, must win the game or the Heels would have to rebuild preseason momentum for 2022 almost from the ground up.

And North Carolina could post one of the few bowl wins for the ACC, which went 0-6 last year and, going into Clemson’s win against overmatched Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl, was still looking for its first W among the ten schools that received invitations.

Of course, the conference netted out only six participants with four of its bowl games being canceled by COVID protocols – sidelining N.C. State, Virginia, BC and Miami. If the Gator Bowl happens, Wake Forest has a win in the bag over 5-7 Rutgers, the last-minute sub for way-tougher Texas A&M.

Pitt will play No. 10 Michigan State at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta – isn’t it strange how Big Six bowls somehow escape COVID? – without All-ACC QB Kenny Pickett, and the 12th-ranked Panthers will be hard pressed to win.
So before Clemson’s narrow victory, we had Louisville’s close loss to Air Force and Virginia Tech’s embarrassing blowout to former ACC member Maryland.

When you sift through the rubble of another post-season for the ACC, a big win for the Tar Heels over their Southeastern Conference neighbor will still go down as a win over the SEC. At this point, we’ll take anything.

 

Photo via ACC Media.

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