Meineke Bowl picture is 'clearly blurred'

With bowl pairings to be announced Sunday, it's still uncertain which two teams will play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl on Dec. 26 at Bank of America Stadium.

"The picture is clearly blurred," Will Webb, executive director of the Meineke Car Care Bowl, said Tuesday.

It appears Florida State, once considered a strong possibility for the Charlotte game, will now play in the Gator Bowl against West Virginia, allowing retiring Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden to coach his last game against the program that launched his record-setting career.

"We want Florida State," Rick Catlett, president of the Gator Bowl, told the Raleigh News and Observer.

What that means for the Meineke Bowl remains unclear, though it seems likely that North Carolina or Miami will be the ACC representative.

Much will depend on the outcome of the ACC championship game Saturday in Tampa, Fla., between Georgia Tech and Clemson. The winner will automatically go to the Orange Bowl, but it's not clear where the loser would play its postseason game.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta has reportedly set its sights on Virginia Tech, a move that would clear the way for the Gator Bowl to select Florida State. If the Atlanta bowl, which has the second ACC pick, does not take Virginia Tech, the Gator Bowl would be forced to take the Hokies according to ACC rules.

If Georgia Tech wins the ACC championship, the Champs Bowl would be able to pick Miami with the fourth pick. That would send Clemson to the Music City Bowl in Nashville. Under league rules, the championship game loser can fall no further than the fifth pick in the ACC's bowl selection ladder.

However, if Clemson wins the ACC championship, the league's one-loss rule would not allow the Champs Bowl to pick Miami (5-3 in the ACC) over Georgia Tech (7-1 ACC). League selection requirements don't allow a bowl to pick a team with two or more losses than a team it is passing over.

The Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., has been working on a North Carolina-Kentucky match-up, but that might not happen with the Gator Bowl's move to land Florida State. That could drop the Tar Heels back to Charlotte for a second straight year, depending on the outcome of the ACC championship game.

The Big East representative will likely come from among Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Rutgers.

Cincinnati and Pittsburgh will meet Saturday to determine the Big East championship while West Virginia faces Rutgers.

If Cincinnati, ranked fifth nationally, were to lose to Pittsburgh on Saturday, it's possible the Bearcats could wind up in Charlotte. Pittsburgh would be the Big East representative in a BCS bowl and West Virginia appears headed to Jacksonville, Fla., to face Florida State. With the next available Big East team, the Meineke Bowl would likely take the Bearcats over Rutgers.

-- Ron Green Jr.

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