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Music City Bowl talks to N.C. State
NCSU's Lee Fowler awaits an invitation.
Lorenzo Perez, Staff Writer
The Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., emerged as another postseason possibility for N.C. State on Monday, joining the bowls in Boise, Idaho, and Charlotte as Wolfpack suitors. But State may not learn its destination this week as bowls await the outcome of Saturday's ACC Championship Game.
Music City executive director Scott Ramsey called State athletics director Lee Fowler Monday to tell him the Pack (6-5, 3-5 ACC) is one of three ACC teams the bowl is considering.
The Dec. 30 bowl also is looking at Virginia (6-5, 3-5) and Georgia Tech (7-4, 5-3) to play a Big Ten opponent.
The Music City Bowl has a tie-in with the Southeastern Conference but the SEC has a shortage of teams eligible for bowl play. The Music City also begins a tie-in with the ACC next season.
"Winning four of its last five, we'd catch a team with a lot of momentum," Ramsey said of State in an interview. "Geographically, the western part of North Carolina is within 500 miles of Nashville, and there are direct flights out of Raleigh."
The San Francisco-based Emerald Bowl -- another game with an at-large bid available for an ACC team -- also is considering State, Virginia and Georgia Tech, according to its executive director, Gary Cavalli.
But neither the Emerald or Music City will get priority to select an ACC team over six other bowls.
The Pack's list of bowl possibilities already included the Dec. 28 MPC Computers Bowl in Boise and the Dec. 31 Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte.
Fowler, Ramsey, Cavalli and Will Webb, executive director of the Meineke Car Care Bowl, all said they did not expect State's bowl destination to be settled before the league title game between Virginia Tech and Florida State in Jacksonville, Fla., helps settle the pecking order.
Saturday's winner gets a Bowl Championship Series bid. The Gator Bowl gets the first pick among the seven other teams eligible for bowl play. The Gator Bowl is unlikely to select the loser of the ACC title game for a return trip to Jacksonville, Fla.
The Gator and the Peach Bowl in Atlanta get to select the teams they want, and then the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, the Meineke Car Care Bowl and the MPC Computers Bowl work out their teams with the conference.
"We were hoping there would be some definition at this point, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen," Webb said.
Fowler said he told staff to begin preparing, for logistical reasons, as if the Wolfpack would land at the MPC Computers Bowl.
"That's the one that will take the most work and most preparation with setting up charters, transportation and all that stuff," Fowler said.
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http://www.newsobserver.com/122/story/372249.html 11/29/2005 7:27:21 AM
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