With the Belk Bowl approaching, SportsChannel8 correspondents visited a local Belk to talk to shoppers about the game, and about what they’d buy if they had the Belk Bowl shopping spree.
Tag Archives: belk bowl
ACC Bowl Selections – Who, When, and Why
With all of the bowl match-ups announced, here’s a look at where ACC teams are headed, based on the order of their selection, and why the selections played out the way they did.
Orange Bowl
Who: Clemson
When: Thursday, December 31st, 4PM vs. Oklahoma
Why: With a 13-0 record capped off by an ACC Championship Game win over North Carolina, the Tigers were wire-to-wire #1 in the College Football Playoff polls.
Peach Bowl
Who: Florida State
When: Thursday, December 31st, Noon vs. Houston
Why: Despite losing to the Coastal’s last place team in Georgia Tech, a quality schedule and a convincing win over Florida in the season finale pushed the Noles ahead of North Carolina and up to 9th in the CFP Poll. Plus, of course, Florida State remains one of the biggest draws in college football.
Russell Athletic Bowl
Who: North Carolina
When: Tuesday, December 29th, 5:30 vs. vs. Baylor
Why: A historic 11-win season had the Heels on the verge of the New Years Six, and while the committee will tell you about that bad loss to South Carolina or a less-than-difficult non-conference schedule, UNC football is here because they’re UNC football. When the New Years Six has a shot at Notre Dame and Ohio State, they’re going to take it.
Pinstripe Bowl
Who: Duke
When: Saturday, December 26th, 3:30 vs. Indiana
Why: While the Blue Devils aren’t known for packing Wallace Wade Stadium, they’re gaining a reputation for being a program that will pack a bowl game (or more specifically, the club level at bowl games). Especially when that bowl game is in one of Duke’s top alumni hubs like New York or Atlanta, they become a surprisingly attractive draw. Without that buying power, 7-win Duke is in Annapolis or Shreveport.
Music City Bowl
Who: Louisville
When: Wednesday, December 30th, 7PM vs. Texas A&M
Why: Being a successful program with a fairly large fanbase is a solid bargaining chip, but it’s even more powerful when you’re three hours away from a Pool 1 bowl site. Resume wise, Louisville probably should have been picked lower, but you don’t turn down a chance to sell tickets to Louisville fans who will surely drive down for the mid-week game.
Sun Bowl
Who: Miami
When: Saturday, December 26th, 2PM, vs. Washington State
Why: The Sun Bowl is one of the most unique games in college football because they don’t HAVE to sell tickets. El Paso is nearly impossible to get to unless you’re willing to fly elsewhere and rent a car, but the city embraces the game like no other. The concern with Miami, unless they’re in a New Years six game, will always be attendance. Without having that concern, the Sun Bowl will gladly take a well-known program and the TV ratings that will likely follow.
Belk Bowl
Who: NC State
When: Wednesday, December 30th, 3:30 PM vs. Mississippi State
Why: It’s no secret that the Belk Bowl wanted Virginia Tech in Frank Beamer’s last game. The only problem … a guideline that’s not even listed in the pre-season guide that prohibits a bowl from passing over an 8 win team for a 6 win team. Because the Pinstripe Bowl and Music City Bowl picked two 7-win teams, the Belk Bowl was left with two choices … NC State or Pitt. At 3:30 on a Wednesday, the in-state school is the obvious choice unless there’s a program out there that’s just too high-profile not to take. Pitt has one of the best histories in the ACC, but Pitt is not on that “can’t pass” level.
Independence Bowl
Who: Virginia Tech
When: Saturday, December 26th, 5:45 PM vs. Tulsa
Why: As covered above, Virginia Tech was locked into the next tier of bowls, and essentially had their choice between Annapolis and Shreveport. As David Teel from the Daily Press outlined, Frank Beamer’s sense of nostalgia drove him towards the Independence Bowl, the home of his first bowl game as the Hokies’ head coach.
Military Bowl
Who: Pitt
When: Monday, December 28th, 2:30 PM vs. Navy
Why: Pitt is here because they weren’t a take for the Pinstripe, Sun, or Music City Bowls, and the Belk Bowl preferred the in-state team with a large, local fan base. With an impressive 8-4 record, it’s understandable that Pitt fans are upset about being passed over, but such is life as a program without a large following or a particularly compelling reason to select them. It’s an even more bitter pill to swallow when a win, which would have been their 9th, in that final game versus Miami would have locked them into a Pool 1 bowl.
WHAT WE’RE THANKFUL FOR #2: THE BELK BOWL
There’s not a day that goes by when we don’t wake up being thankful for being a sports fan in North Carolina. This November, the SportsChannel8 team and a panel of peers from NC media will be counting down to Thanksgiving with the top 25 things we have to be thankful for in this great state.
Today friend of the network, CBS Sports.com College Football/Basketball scribe, and native North Carolinian Chip Patterson weighs in on why we love the Belk Bowl.
The Belk Bowl isn’t just a reason to be thankful for sports here in North Carolina, it’s an indication of how far we’ve come and where we’re going.
Technically, the Belk Bowl has been in existence in 2002 thanks to Raycom-powered efforts to bring a bowl game to the state of North Carolina and scout potential targets for conference realignment for the ACC. League officials and bowl organizers will argue that last point (because I made it up), but note that Boston College, Pittsburgh and Louisville (who has played the game as a Big East and ACC member) all joined the ACC after playing in this bowl game.
In terms of events around the game, the Belk Bowl (and most of its previous iterations) did a great job recognizing its surroundings in NASCAR country and the opportunity to offer a unique experience to the players. Some of our the game’s largest and fastest young men squeeze into stock cars and get to feel even larger and faster while going hundreds of miles per hour at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The inclusion of area schools has made it easy for North Carolinians to develop an early fondness for the Belk Bowl. All of the Big Four have made at least one appearance and sources have told SportsChannel 8 that, historically speaking, a North Carolina school is involved 61.5 percent of the time. But these days the Belk Bowl has more of a national draw than those early Continental Tire Bowls.
Both the ACC and SEC had to give up the Peach Bowl in the creation of the College Football Playoff, and that’s when our khaki-clad heroes pounced at the opportunity. No longer just a meeting between local ACC schools and a Big East visitor, the Belk Bowl is an established battle ground (at least until 2019) for the never-ending ACC-SEC turf war in the southeast.
Keeping an eye on the future is what allowed the Belk Bowl to emerge from the local spotlight and into the national spotlight, even getting to add an opening weekend kickoff game. That foresight has been evident with the game’s moves in the business of the college football and in the super serious business of bowl game Twitter accounts.
No bowl game brings the heat 140 characters at a time like the Belk Bowl. No one.
Keys to tonight’s Auburn vs Kentucky game: 1) Teamwork 2) Electrolytes 3) Sportsmanship 4) Fashion Who do you think will win and why?
— Belk Bowl (@belkbowl) October 15, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
How is your team doing so far?
— Belk Bowl (@belkbowl) November 7, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Happy Tuesday. We’re just sitting here waiting for your tweets. pic.twitter.com/fMJjNQLwdk
— Belk Bowl (@belkbowl) November 10, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
I could reach back for months into @belkbowl’s greatest hits but when you are following the game’s lead to live with a certain modern and southern style you have to continue reinventing yourself, and @belkbowl brings that energy with every new message dropped into your timeline. Or better yet, interact with the Belk Bowl. Chances are you’ll get a great response that will brighten your day.
What was an upstart Big East-ACC bowl game is now an annual ACC-SEC battle ground and the good folks at the Charlotte Sports Foundation (who also oversee the ACC Championship Game) have recently entered the hustle of bidding for title games. Like North Carolina, the Belk Bowl has gown a lot in the last 13 years.
It’s Modern. Southern. Football. And we are so thankful that it’s right here in the state of North Carolina.