Clemson's 40-24 win over Florida State means the Tigers have to beat N.C. State, in Raleigh, and Virginia, at home, to win the Atlantic Division.

That's it and not even Tommy Bowden could screw that up (or only Tommy Bowden could screw that up).

Even if the spirit of Bowden possesses the Tigers, 4-2 in the ACC, and they lose once, they would still hold the tiebreaker over Boston College (3-2), which finishes with Virginia, UNC and Maryland.

CHAPEL HILL -- It's good day to be Ryan Houston, and Casey Barth, but not Duke.

Houston's career-best 164 yards, and Barth's four field goals, gave North Carolina a 19-6 win over the Blue Devils on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

The loss ends Duke's three-game ACC winning streak and leaves them 1-19 in the Victory Bell series since 1989. The loss also derails Duke's pursuit of a bowl bidand bolster's UNC's, which has won two straight in the ACC after an 0-3 conference start.

CHAPEL HILL — After a performance last Sunday in a closed scrimmage at Vanderbilt that North Carolina coach Roy Williams dubbed "yucky," the Tar Heels had to feel better about their 107-59 exhibition victory over Belmont Abby on Friday night.

Senior forward Deon Thompson, right, led the Tar Heels with 23 points; reserve forward Tyler Zeller chipped in 17 and freshman forward John Henson posted four blocks.

The game began with spotlight introductions, a nod to the updated lighting system at the Smith Center and coach Roy Williams’ desire to add a little NBA-style sizzle to the season.

Junior Will Graves got the start at small forward, joined in the first lineup by sophomore point guard Larry Drew II, senior Marcus Ginyard at shooting guard, sophomore Ed Davis at one forward and Thompson at the other.

Henson was the first player off the bench for Carolina.

UNC opens the regular season Monday against Florida International.

Photo: ROBERT WILLETT - rwillett@newsobserver.com

The Thursday night football game UNC hosted last month went well enough that the university expects to do it again.

The Oct. 22 game against Florida State was the first Thursday night game ever held on the UNC campus. For years,  officials had opposed the idea due to fears of congestion and other campus disruption.

But this year's game was held over Fall break, and athletics director Dick Baddour and others were pleased with how things went.

For the story, check out our higher education blog.

CLARIFICATION: When Wood was introduced, Trevor Ferguson's name and number -- but not his picture -- flashed on the scoreboard.

 RALEIGH — When freshman Scott Wood, right, was introduced as part of N.C. State’s starting lineup Thursday night, a picture of Trevor Ferguson — last year’s No. 15 – was accidentally flashed on the big screen.

Bet that mix-up won’t happen again.

The 6-feet-7 wing from Indiana scored 12 points during the Wolfpack’s 84-42 exhibition victory over St. Paul’s College. His 4-for-4 shooting — along with DeShawn Painter’s eight points and six rebounds, Josh Davis’ three points and three rebounds and Jordan Vandenberg’s six points and five rebounds — gave the fans at Reynolds Coliseum a hopeful glance of what they can hope for out of the rookie class when State opens the regular season next Thursday.

“Our freshmen are going to be pretty good,’’ said sophomore forward Tracy Smith, who used his height advantage to score 21 points. “Scott Woods is an unbelievable shooter; DeShawn Painter has a good presence inside; Jordan’s very good on defense, we’re still going to work on his offense.”

Wood, Smith, C.J. Williams, Javier Gonzalez and Dennis Horner started for the Pack; State opens the regular season next Thursday.

Photo: ETHAN HYMAN - ehyman@newsobserver.com

CHAPEL HILL — The Tar Heels played a closed scrimmage at Vanderbilt last Sunday; NCAA rules prohibit teams from revealing specific details about workouts against other Division I schools, but coach Roy Williams said "we just didn't play well at all."

For the second time in three days, North Carolina women's soccer beat Maryland.

There was more riding this time on chilly night at WakeMed Soccer Park, where the Tar Heels won 3-0 in the final of four first round games in the ACC Women's Soccer Championship.

Staff video by Travis Long, Joe Giglio, Caulton Tudor

Topic: The big Duke-Carolina football game and Virginia Tech's trip to ECU.

The ACC has nine bowl tie-ins and three bowl-eligible teams (Georgia Tech, Miami, Boston College).

With a win this week, Clemson (5-3) and Virginia Tech (5-3) can push the total to five.

Maryland, Virginia and N.C. State are all but mathematically eliminated, leaving a group of four (UNC, Duke, Wake and FSU) for the final four spots.

BCS bowl projections:

National championship: Florida vs. Texas
Rose: Iowa vs. Oregon
Orange: Georgia Tech vs. Penn State
Sugar: Alabama vs. Cincinnati
Fiesta: USC vs. TCU

North Carolina's win, and USC's loss, cost the ACC a real shot at $4.5 million.