Pack expected to get Champs Bowl invite

Orlando, Fla., appears to be the holiday destination for N.C. State, as the Champs Sports Bowl is expected this evening to formally invite the Wolfpack to the Dec. 28 game.

N.C. State has sent the media information on how to participate in the bowl's team announcement teleconference at 8:45 tonight. That information is not meant to be construed as confirmation that the Wolfpack has accepted an invitation to play in the game, but the school nonetheless is expected to receive - and accept - that invitation.

The game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 28 at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium and will be televised by ESPN.

West Virginia (9-3) will be the Wolfpack's opponent in the most high-profile bowl trip for N.C. State (8-4) since its Jan. 1, 2003 win over Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl.

The Champs Sports Bowl has the third pick from the ACC. Virginia Tech (11-2) captured the ACC's Orange Bowl bid by virtue of its 44-33 defeat of Florida State in the ACC championship game Saturday night in Charlotte.

Florida State (9-4) will play in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, which announced last week that it would select the loser of the ACC title game. With those two teams unavailable, the Champs Bowl apparently has settled on N.C. State, which finished tied for second place in the ACC Atlantic Division with Maryland.

This will be N.C. State's second bowl trip in four seasons under coach Tom O'Brien. The Wolfpack lost to Rutgers in the 2008 Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.

N.C. State is 12-11-1 overall in bowl games in its history.

Ken Tysiac