With both Clemson and Notre Dame selected Sunday to represent the ACC in this year’s College Football Playoff, this leaves UNC to make its first-ever appearance in the Orange Bowl.

The No. 13 Tar Heels qualified to play in the Orange Bowl by virtue of being the highest-ranked ACC team outside of those selected for the playoff.

UNC will be taking on No. 5 Texas A&M at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Jan. 2. The Aggies are 8-1 this season under head coach Jimbo Fisher, and have won their last seven games since losing to current No. 1 Alabama.

For the Tar Heels, this is the program’s first major bowl berth since the 1950 Cotton Bowl. UNC lost that game in Dallas to Rice by a score of 31-17.

It also represents an enormous turnaround for UNC, which accomplished this feat in just the second year of head coach Mack Brown’s second tenure. Prior to Brown’s arrival, the Tar Heels won just five games in the previous two years–leading to the dismissal of former head coach Larry Fedora.

This group of Tar Heels have also had great success at Hard Rock Stadium, breaking numerous school records in a 62-26 win over then-No. 10 Miami in their most recent game.

 

 

 

 

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