ESPN: Wolfpack represents UNC-CH’s ‘bowl game’

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Pre-season football chatter will play a major role in most of the summer talk here at SFN. Wanted to thank the folks at ESPN for accurately identifying UNC’s most important game of the 2012 football season as the annual match-up with NC State. Linked here.

Why it is important

Bragging rights. Pride. An 0-5 record against the Pack in the past five seasons. Home-field advantage. And of course, because UNC is the “flagship” university, right? At least according to former interim head coach Everett Withers it is. Withers added some heat to this rivalry last year when he called UNC the state’s flagship university, and boasted of the school’s graduation rates at a time in which the NCAA was investigating the program for academic fraud. NC State coach Tom O’Brien fired back, and then he punctuated it with a 13-0 win over UNC. Will O’Brien get the last word again? North Carolina is trying to put its tumultuous past behind it, and beating its in-state rivals would be another step in the right direction. NCAA sanctions have prohibited UNC from playing in the postseason this year, so this is the Tar Heels’ bowl game. It’s up to Larry Fedora to turn the tables in his first season as UNC’s head coach. If he does, he’ll instantly win over a fan base desperate to tilt the scales back in favor of Chapel Hill.

As for the prediction for NC State’s ‘most important’ game of the year? I’m going with the following in order:

(1) Florida State
(2) Tennessee
(3) Wake Forest
(4) UNC-CH

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25 Responses to ESPN: Wolfpack represents UNC-CH’s ‘bowl game’

  1. Prowling Woofie 05/29/2012 at 11:04 AM #

    I might rank the Tennessee game slightly ahead of FSU.

    I know it’s out of conference, but it’s SEC, National TV, and gets us out of the blocks quickly if we get the ‘W’.

    I think it’s funny that Heather had to write this piece, as I’m sure Robbi couldn’t have made herself acknowledge it…

  2. jrcox4 05/29/2012 at 11:45 AM #

    She wrote our most important game is FSU.

    http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/39374/most-important-game-nc-state

  3. haze 05/29/2012 at 11:52 AM #

    FSU is bigger b/c it’s in division and a better win on the national scale but UNC is still an ACC win & we want to smoke the new guy as well.

    I’ll take UNC, thanks.

  4. timswar 05/29/2012 at 12:00 PM #

    FSU is the biggest game for this season’s goals, but long term Tennessee is bigger. Nationally televised against an SEC team not names Vandy or Ole Miss means it could be very big for recruiting and give a solid credibiliboost with poll voters and bowl executives.

    As long as we win, of course. It doesn’t do any good to get knocked around by what has recently been a middling SEC squad.

  5. Hungwolf 05/29/2012 at 12:19 PM #

    Clemson
    Tenn
    Wake
    FSU

    Not sold on Jimbo Fisher. FSU been overrated last ten years and last year Fisher did a piss poor coaching job, maybe Fisher wants to go to Big 12 cause he got better chance of winning and use it as excuse to not to have to play Florida and Miami every year.

    I think Clemson is the biggest game since we spanked them last year and got a great chance of going into death valley and beating them again!

  6. StateFans 05/29/2012 at 12:41 PM #

    Thanks for the link to the NC State article. I’ve been out of pocket a bunch the last couple of weeks and keeping up with everything has been tough.

  7. Wolfacct 05/29/2012 at 12:41 PM #

    With all the preseason hype FSU is getting, I’d say that will be our most important game of the season. This is supposed to be the year the Seminoles return to their former glory. If we can take care of Tennessee, we could be undefeated when FSU rolls into town. They have Clemson and Wake in Tallahassee and USF on the road before us. I’d like for them to come into C-F undefeated with ESPN gameday on hand for a night game.

    After that game, I go with Tennessee, then Clempson, then the ‘Holes.

  8. Wolfacct 05/29/2012 at 12:46 PM #

    ESPN/Dinch need to get the facts right. Consistently. The article header says “at Florida State” but then in the commentary correctly says that we will have home-field advantage.

  9. JohnGalt78 05/29/2012 at 1:09 PM #

    Most Important Game: The next one!

  10. TruthBKnown Returns 05/29/2012 at 1:11 PM #

    I like that we’re their bowl game.

    They rarely win their bowl games.

  11. PackerInRussia 05/29/2012 at 1:45 PM #

    “North Carolina is trying to put its tumultuous past behind it”

    She meant to say “North Carolina is trying to sweep its tumultuous past under the rug”

    By the way, is it true that UNC football players are on media blackout so that they don’t accidentally find out that they’re banned from postseason play?

  12. BJD95 05/29/2012 at 1:51 PM #

    The FSU game is the most important if winning it gets us the division title. If the Noles have it sewn up regardless, then it’s Tennessee. They are down, but still a big “name” and a recruiting trail competitor. It would sting badly to blow that opportunity.

  13. STLPack01 05/29/2012 at 2:22 PM #

    FSU game is the most important for next year.

    Tennessee game is the most important for the future.

  14. TruthBKnown Returns 05/29/2012 at 2:52 PM #

    The UNC game is only important from the usual “rivalry” perspective, and as a conference game.

    As far as individual games go, it’s more important than most games for those reasons, alone. But I agree that the FSU game is much more important. They are the biggest obstacle in our path to the ACC championship game.

    IMO, they are ALL important this year. They say football recruiting lags a couple of years behind actual success on the field. We have some pretty good momentum going (even if it took a miracle comeback against Maryland to keep it going last year). We really need another good year to maybe help boost our “street cred” with recruits. If we have a bad year, it would be a pretty bad setback IMO. Gotta keep it going, TOB.

  15. EasternWakeWolf 05/29/2012 at 3:46 PM #

    So despite Fedora, we ARE legitimate and relevant.

  16. eas 05/29/2012 at 5:57 PM #

    FSU may get the most attention and Crapel Thrill is big on the rivalry front (means the most to all of us). However, WFU continues to be the battle for us every year and just a tough outing for us.

    A win over Clemson or FSU seems to bring the positive media chatter and more attention. I still like the Tarhole and WFU games the most. The FSU game on Thursday nights was another story…..Man do I miss that Thursday NIGHT game against FSU. ESPN really worked that game up.

  17. JEOH2 05/29/2012 at 6:15 PM #

    What is our goal this year? An ACC championship…the two most talented teams we face all season are in our division…FSU & Clemson…I want to beat Tennessee so bad (SEC, national TV coverage etc)…but would I trade all 4 non-conference losses for an ACC championship? No question. Would I trade a blowout loss to UT for an ACC Championship game opportunity? No Question.

    FSU is our most important game, its at home against the team that will have the most (and deserved) preseason hype we’ll play all year. We win that game, we could win the division. BC & Maryland will still be terrible, Wake may be solid, but at least we get them at home. A loss to Clemson may not matter…they have 3 TOUGH games at FSU, GT (with no time to prepare) and VT. I hesitate to say this but we may be a decided underdog in only 2 of our ACC games (as we’ll probably be a wash with UNC & Miami). Our schedule is more favorable than Clemson’s overall…so it’s gotta be the FSU game.

  18. BJD95 05/29/2012 at 8:04 PM #

    Wake is more disaster avoidance than a “big game” – if we lose to them, no chance at even a semi-special season.

    I would rather win the division and lose to the Holes than vice versa – but outside of that, there’s nobody I would rather beat. Damn, do I ever want to taste that title game. This is TOB’s best shot. And I don’t think our next coach will likely be as good, so it feels like now or never to me.

  19. PackPearl 05/30/2012 at 12:13 AM #

    JEOH2, agreed! Here is how I rank the games.

    1. FSU
    2. Clemson
    3. ACC Championship Game (If 1&2 happen to be W’s)
    4. UT (Cred) – 3 if #3 above does not happen
    4/5. unc (Do I need to explain?)

  20. Classof89 05/30/2012 at 9:47 AM #

    Some of you seem to be whistling past the graveyard. I guarantee you if UNC beats us this year, it won’t be the game generating the 5th most bitching on this board…Given the growing disparity in recruiting results between the two programs, I’m worried that once UNC gets over its mental block about losing to us, they could be in for a long stretch of dominance like the late Mack Brown/Torbush era (seven straight losses).

  21. HPWolf 05/30/2012 at 10:14 AM #

    A conference championship is the goal and the bowl game that comes with it but the Tennessee game is the single most important game this season for State. We win that game on national television to kick the season off and we are relevant for the season. We lose(as many outsiders expect) and we fall out of the conversation. We must win the Tennessee game. An early ACC win over the SEC has many ramifications for State.

  22. 61Packer 05/30/2012 at 2:43 PM #

    The game that nobody has mentioned is the one that falls in between the FSU and UNC games- the October 20 game in College Park.

    Until we start beating Maryland football with consistency, Wolfpack football will NEVER be relevant. Other than the big comeback win here last season, I don’t remember many wins over the Terps. I can’t remember the last time we beat them in Byrd Stadium.

    Trap Game- October 20.

  23. JSRy2k 05/31/2012 at 12:06 PM #

    Or, maybe the non-conference games are the biggest for everybody. It’s largely because the ACC has gone umpteen years without a BCS victory that the conference realignment shitstorm is a major concern for the ACC.

  24. JSRy2k 05/31/2012 at 12:37 PM #

    One could argue that all non-conference games are everybody’s most important. It’s largely because of the ACC’s failure to win a BCS bowl in umpteen years that the conference realignment s***storm is a major threat to the ACC.

  25. JSRy2k 05/31/2012 at 12:38 PM #

    New language filter?

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