Thursday quick hits

Hit 1: What do the players get out of going to bowls, other than the experience? Swag of course! Here’s what one source lists for State’s upcoming trip: PapaJohns.com Bowl (N.C. State vs. Rutgers)
Gifts: Pure Digital Flip mini-camcorder, Sony noise-canceling headphones, Knit cap, Ogio bag.
See an extensive list of bowl swag here: http://soxanddawgs.com

Hit 2: N.C. State has sold just under 3,000 of its allotment of 10,000 tickets for the bowl. School officials are offering an opportunity for N.C. State fans who can’t make the trip to support the school by purchasing tickets to be donated to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters charity in Birmingham.

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at 919-865-1510 or gopack.com.

ACC Bowl Schedule

FedEx Orange Virginia Tech vs. Kansas	Miami	Jan. 3, 2008, 8 p.m.	FOX
Chick-fil-A Clemson vs. Auburn	Atlanta	Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m.	ESPN HD
Gaylord Hotels Music City Kentucky vs. Florida State	Nashville, Tenn.	Dec. 31, 4 p.m.	ESPN HD
Gator Texas Tech vs. Virginia	Jacksonville, Fla.	Jan. 1, 2008, 1 p.m.	CBS
Roady’s Humanitarian Georgia Tech vs. Fresno State	Boise, Idaho	Dec. 31, 2 p.m.	ESPN2
Meineke Car Care UConn vs. Wake Forest	Charlotte, N.C.	Dec. 29, 1 p.m.	ESPN HD
Emerald Maryland vs. Oregon State	San Francisco	Dec. 28, 8:30 p.m.	ESPN HD
Champs Sports Boston College vs. Michigan State	Orlando, Fla.	Dec. 28, 5 p.m.	ESPN HD

Two weeks to go…

OK, this is possibly the biggest day so far this football season around the ACC. As the bowl picture starts to take shape, well, it’s a triangle. Meaning a few teams at the top, and too many at the bottom vying for post season pride.

Representatives from the Meineke Car Care Bowl will be at the State v WF game today. ACC and bowl sources say the Meineke Bowl would “love to have N.C. State as part of its Dec. 29 matchup” if the Wolfpack becomes bowl eligible.

Meineke is also considering Wake Forest, but the defending conference champ is also being watched today by scouts from the Champs Sports Bowl and Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl.

A fourth consecutive ACC triumph would mark the Wolfpack’s first four-game ACC winning streak since 1992, when Dick Sheridan’s team went 6-2 in the conference. Wow!

Other games:
UNC (3-7) at GT (6-4). Here’s the plan, pull for GT. It’s a win-win for us. IF Tech wins, hey, Carolina loses and drops to a miserable 3-8. If UNC wins, GT goes to 6-5 and likely ends the year at 6-6 with their last game being versus Georgia.

Maryland (5-5) at FSU (6-4). Here’s another tough one. I hate Maryland. I respect Bowden. Thing is, if FSU loses today, they play UF next week, and also likely end up 6-6. So it’s in our best interest for Maryland to win. We play Maryland next week.

Miami (5-5) at VT (8-2). Honestly, I feel bad for Randy Shannon. He is such an admirable guy, I mean, if you haven’t read about him you should. He is one of the special character guys in the game today. At least I am comforted by the fact that no matter how I feel, they will lose at VaTech today.

BC (8-2) at Clemson (8-2). This is easy, we pull against Boston College. Their fans are unappreciative of what TOB left them with. Plus, Clemson is currently #15 in the BCS standings. A victory could move us closer to getting an at large BCS team, freeing up another bowl space for the rest of the ACC.

Duke v Notre Dame, aka the “1-9 Bowl”, aka “The worst nationally televised game ever”. Go Blue Devils!

Wasted Wednesday

No, I’m not wasted. My day is though!

So, after dropping my wife off at school I went by the local P&C (think Food Lion of the North) and picked up a 4 pack of Guinness and a 6-er of Harp. This before reading that TOB enjoyed a Black and Tan after the game Saturday! So, really you would call a Harp and Guinness a “Half and Half”, a variation of Black and Tan. Most pubs (like Hibernian) use Bass for a plain Black and Tan. Snakebites are good too (Guinness and Woodchuck). Anyways, point is, I started pounding the pints at 11:30 in preparation of the Third Eye Blind concert tonight. Oh, and I’m playing poker online. Therefore, have neglected the blog today, until now.

On to things Wolfpack.

IndyStar (Indiana): This year’s best in-state talent escapes

The state (Indiana) has four seniors ranked in the nation’s top 150 and all are headed out of state. Washington’s Tyler Zeller has committed to North Carolina, East Chicago Central’s Angel Garcia to Memphis, Warren Central’s Walter Offutt to Ohio State and Marion’s Julius Mays to North Carolina State. All are expected to sign today when the fall signing period begins.

N&O: Pack high on Meineke Car Care Bowl radar

Meineke Car Care Bowl officials are taking a strong look at N.C. State after the Pack’s four straight victories.

“N.C. State is very much on our radar,” executive director Will Webb said today. “If they win one more and become bowl eligible, we’d be very much interested in them.

“We’ve been watching them closely, especially the way they’ve come on. You have to be impressed with them given all the injuries they’ve had.”

Webb said representatives from the Charlotte-based bowl would be at the State-Wake Forest game on Saturday. The Demon Deacons also are high on the Meineke Care Care Bowl list, Webb said.