Pack, UNC, Meineke still waiting

N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler has a feeling the Wolfpack is heading to Birmingham, Ala., for the Papajohns.com Bowl, but said he still isn’t certain.

Reached by telephone at 2:15 p.m. Sunday, Fowler said N.C. State still is talking to officials at the Papajohns.com and Texas bowls about their games.

The Papajohns.com Bowl is Dec. 29. The Texas Bowl is Dec. 30 in Houston.

“They’re saying, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to be in a bowl,’ ” Fowler said.

But neither bowl officials nor the ACC office have confirmed which one.

Fowler suspects that officials want to withhold an announcement until after the Champs Sports Bowl’s 4:30 p.m. meeting Sunday to select its ACC representative.

Champs officials are expected to choose Florida State for but still haven’t officially ruled out North Carolina.

If Florida State goes to the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 27 in Orlando, North Carolina will be selected for the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte.

“I cannot imagine they don’t take Florida State,” Meineke Bowl executive director Will Webb said at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, “but they have surprised me in the past.”

Late Saturday night, Meineke executives announced that West Virginia (8-4) of the Big East will meet the ACC representative on Dec. 27 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.