What Beating NC State Would Mean for Carolina Football

n case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard, the North Carolina football team plays NC State today. The Heels are coming off a big win at Duke, which earned them the Victory Bell and bowl eligibility. Carolina has won back-to-back meetings against the Wolfpack, but the Heels have lost five of the last seven in the rivalry. What would it mean for the UNC football program to extend the winning streak to three games?

Live Feed

Giants vs. 49ers Best Same-Game Parlay for Thursday Night Football in NFL Week 3 /

Betsided

Pac-12 Power Rankings: Who wins the ranked v. ranked matchups?Saturday Blitz

Oklahoma football: Sooners pick up another elite 2024 edge-rusher commitmentStormin in Norman

Colorado football ratings dwarf college football powerhousesFanSided

Texas Football: Quinn Ewers joins 7-Eleven Cleat Crew for charity eventHook'em Headlines

Bobby Petrino's Offense Has Skyrocketed Texas A&M Football's ProductionGig Em Gazette

First, and perhaps most importantly,

this game is about pride.

To state the obvious, these teams do not like each other. At all. They have been jawing and

trash-talking

for the last week and both sides have hyped up this game. A win against State would put the Pack in their place and prove that UNC is the best football team in the triangle area. That would restore some pride to the Carolina football program, which has had a rough couple years. It would be a good ending to what has been a very rough season.

Also, Carolina would get to go to a better bowl game. The Heels are definitely going to go to a bowl game. But there is a big difference between the bowl a six-win Carolina team would go to and the bowl the Heels would go to with seven wins. That extra win would be the difference between a relatively well-known game such as the Hyundai Sun Bowl or Russel Athletic Bowl and a game like the Advocare V100 Bowl. There is also a big difference in the quality of opponent. In the Sun Bowl, the Heels would face the 4th best team from the Pac-12. In the Advocare V100 Bowl, UNC would play the 10th best SEC team. Now, the SEC is a great conference, but playing against the 10th best (out of fourteen) team would be demoralizing for Carolina.

More from North Carolina Tar Heels

Finally, a win for the Heels would help the team in the years to come. Not only would it be a positive that next years’ team could build on, it would also be a good recruiting tool, especially on the Heels of last weeks’ victory over nationally ranked Duke on national television. It would give Larry Fedora and the Heels an edge on recruiting top prospects within the state and a winning streak against a top rival would be a good talking point in-house visits. Who knows, maybe a win over NC State would be the difference maker for a star player who could help the UNC football program take the next step to becoming a nationally recognized football school.

Overall, beating NC State would be huge for Carolina’s morale and would give the Heels some good momentum heading into their bowl game. It would be some positive reinforcement that would help the Heels buy in to Fedora’s system. And it would show the Wolfpack that they are not as great as they think they are. It would be something for Carolina fans to be thankful for on this holiday weekend.

Home/North Carolina Tar Heels