UNC Football: Tar Heels projected to return to New Year’s Six bowl

The excitement for the UNC Football program going into the 2021 season is at an all-time high, and rightfully so. Mack Brown has put UNC back on the map in just two seasons, leading the Tar Heels to an Orange Bowl appearance last year.

To help with the excitement, UNC also landed a big five-star recruit for their 2022 recruiting class signaling that the future is bright in Chapel Hill.

Going into 2021, the expectations are that UNC takes a big step forward and can reach the Atlantic Coast Conference title game and potentially challenge Clemson, something no team in the Coastal has been able to do for a few years now. And UNC has also gained the attention of the national media coming off a solid 2020 season.

As we get set to kickoff “Week 0” here this week, Brett McMurphy has released his updated bowl projections and he has UNC right back in a New Year’s Six Bowl against potentially another fun team. McMurphy has UNC taking on UCF in the 2022 Playstation Fiesta Bowl to be played on New Year’s Day in his latest projections.

That would mean two straight seasons the Tar Heels would be in the national spotlight playing in a big bowl game.

Now, while the Orange Bowl had the ACC tie-in last year the Fiesta Bowl does not have a tie-in and would take two teams that just missed the College Football Playoff. He does have Clemson NOT making the CFP this year but still in a New Year’s Six game and taking on Oregon in the Peach Bowl. That’s another bowl game that does not have a tie-in but can take a conference champion.

UNC’s schedule is no slouch however and they have a tough road game at Virginia Tech right away on their schedule for September 3rd in primetime on ESPN.

For more on the UNC Football program and the upcoming season, please check back with Keeping It Heel.