
Which college football team will be the best in the state of North Carolina in 2009?
There are numerous reader comments on the "ECU sets challenge" post that hash, and rehash, that argument.
What will happen in '09? We don't know. What has happened from 2000 to '08? We do know. Those numbers say N.C. State has been the best team in the state of North Carolina ... so far.
State has won the most overall games (60), ACC games (32), bowl games (four) and has edged UNC and Wake Forest (5-4 against each) in their respective series. The Wolfpack has also had the most bowl appearances (six).
(Oh, I hear you, Yosef, App State's got three national titles but your boys are 1-2 against the ACC this decade with a 23-10 loss to N.C. State in '06, which was State's worst team of the decade).
Duke (surprise!) has the worst record of the five Bowl Subdivision programs in the state (and all of Division I-A for that matter) with a 14-90 mark. For the sake of meaningful comparison, Duke, has been taken out of the group-record discussion.
Some numbers, from the nine seasons starting in 2000 through 2008, to chew on:
| Overall | W-L | Pct. |
| N.C. State | 60-51 | .541 |
| Wake | 56-53 | .532 |
| ECU | 50-60 | .455 |
| UNC | 45-63 | .417 |
Notes: State, Wake and ECU have each had four losing seasons this decade. UNC has had five.
| ACC | W-L | Pct. |
| N.C. State | 32-40 | .444 |
| Wake | 29-43 | .403 |
| UNC | 28-44 | .389 |
Notes: Wake Forest won the ACC Championship Game in '06. The ACC only recognizes the regular season (6-2) in their won-loss record. Duke is 4-68.
| Bowls | W-L | Pct. |
| Wake | 3-1 | .750 |
| N.C. State | 4-2 | .667 |
| UNC | 2-2 | .500 |
| ECU | 2-3 | .400 |
Notes: Wake Forest's only bowl loss was to Louisville in the '07 Orange Bowl — the only BCS bowl appearance of the group.
| Head-to-head | State | UNC | Wake | ECU |
| N.C. State | — | 5-4 | 5-4 | 3-1 |
| UNC | 4-5 | — | 3-4 | 2-1 |
| Wake | 4-5 | 4-3 | — | 5-0 |
| ECU | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-5 | — |
Notes: Of the current coaches, Tom O'Brien (State) is 5-1 against the group, Jim Grobe (Wake) is 13-6, Skip Holtz (ECU) is 2-3 and Butch Davis (UNC) is 0-3.
(News & Observer staff photo by Ethan Hyman)
