ACC Bowl Projections, Week 12

Welcome to the bowl eligibility club, N.C. State. Punch and pie. The Wolfpack became the ACC's eighth bowl eligible team over the weekend with a 42-13 victory over Wake Forest.

With two weekends to go in the regular season, here's who's in:

10-0 Florida State Seminoles
9-2 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
8-2 Duke Blue Devils
7-3 Clemson Tigers
7-3 Louisville Cardinals
6-4 Miami-Florida Hurricanes
6-4 Boston College Eagles
6-5 N.C. State Wolfpack

And we might as well start throwing 7-3 Notre Dame into the mix too now (Go U! NU!).

Here are this year's ACC bowl tie-ins:

Tier 1
ACC Champ / ACC No. 1 -- Orange Bowl, Miami, Dec. 31 vs. Big Ten / SEC / Notre Dame
ACC No. 2 -- Russell Athletic Bowl, Orlando, Dec. 29 vs. Big 12 3

Tier 2 / Conditional Tie-Ins with Big Ten
ACC Nos. 3-6 OR Big Ten Nos. 5-7 -- Gator, Jacksonville, Jan. 2 vs. SEC 3-8
ACC Nos. 3-6 OR Big Ten Nos. 5-7 -- Music City, Nashville, Dec. 30 vs. SEC 3-8

Tier 2
ACC Nos. 3-6 -- Belk, Charlotte, Dec. 30 vs. SEC 3-8
ACC Nos. 3-6 -- Pinstripe, Bronx, Dec. 27 vs. Big Ten 5-7
ACC Nos. 3-6 -- Sun, El Paso, Dec. 27 vs. Pac-12 5

Everything Else
Independence, Shreveport, Dec. 27 vs. SEC 10 (C-USA conditional)
Military, Annapolis, Dec. 27 vs. American
Quick Lane, Detroit, Dec. 26 vs. Big Ten
BITCOIN, St. Petersburg, Dec. 26 vs. American

Let's break down the bowl picture for the ACC's remaining programs:

Need 1 win:

North Carolina Tar Heels (5-5, 3-3 ACC)

Wins: 5
Needs: 6
Remaining: 2 -- 11/20 @ Duke, 11/29 N.C. State

How To Get There: The Heels need just one more win after winning what appears to be a bowl game eliminator over Pittsburgh. Carolina is ~a touchdown dog at Duke this weekend, but should be a slight favorite at home in the finale against N.C. State.

Bowl / No Bowl? Bowl

Virginia Tech Hokies (5-5, 3-3 ACC)

Wins: 5
Needs: 6
Remaining: 2 -- 11/22 @ Wake Forest, 11/28 Virginia

How To Get There: After dispatching Duke for win #5, the Hokies are in great shape to extend the nation's second longest active bowl appearance streak. Virginia Tech should get there this weekend with a road game at Wake Forest. The Hokies are early two score favorites.

Bowl / No Bowl? Bowl

Need 2 wins:

Virginia Cavaliers (4-6, 2-4 ACC)

Wins: 4
Needs: 6
Remaining: 2 -- 11/22 Miami, 11/28 @ Virginia Tech

How To Get There: Virginia had the week off to prepare to host the Hurricanes this weekend. Things haven't changed for the Cavs, though, who need to win out if they hope to make a bowl game. UVA could pull off one of the two upsets, but I doubt they can grab both.

Bowl / No Bowl? No bowl

Pittsburgh Panthers (4-6, 2-4 ACC)

Wins: 4
Needs: 6
Remaining: 2 -- 11/22 Syracuse, 11/29 @ Miami

How To Get There: Win out. And with a road game at Miami in the regular season finale, I'm not feeling a bowl for the Panthers this year.

Bowl / No Bowl? No bowl

Carolina and Virginia Tech join nine bowl eligible teams (8 plus Notre Dame). Best guess as to how this shakes out below with two weeks to go:

College Football Playoff -- Florida State (13-0)

Orange -- Clemson (9-3)
Russell Athletic Bowl -- Notre Dame (8-4)

Gator -- Duke (10-3)
Belk -- Georgia Tech (9-3)
Pinstripe -- Louisville (8-4)
Sun -- Miami (8-4)

Military -- Boston College (7-5)
Quick Lane -- Virginia Tech (7-5)
Independence -- N.C. State (6-6)
BITCOIN -- North Carolina (6-6)

Despite the loss to Georgia Tech, I've still got Clemson in the Orange Bowl over Georgia Tech or Duke, assuming wins for the Tigers over Georgia State and South Carolina. After an assumed ACC Championship Game loss to Florida State, Duke gets scooped up by the Gator Bowl for one of those either/or ACC / Big Ten slots.

Notre Dame beats Louisville, but falls to USC to finish 8-4. That's enough to knock the Irish out of the New Year's Six but comfortably land in the ACC's no. 2 slot, the Russell Athletic Bowl.

The Belk takes Georgia Tech, the Pinstripe Louisville and the Sun Miami. BC could jump back up into those Tier 2 games with 1-2 more wins, but with Notre Dame now likely to fall into an ACC bowl slot, everyone else moves down a slot. The lower tier bowls go Military (Boston College), Quick Lane (Virginia Tech), Duck Dynasty (N.C. State) and BITCOIN (North Carolina).