Clemson (6-6) will make its first appearance in Charlotte’s Meineke Car Care Bowl, playing South Florida (7-5), the bowl announced this evening.

The game is scheduled for noon on Dec. 31 at Bank of America Stadium and will be televised by ESPN.

Securing Clemson gives the Meineke Bowl another strong local draw with potential to add to the game’s history of turning Charlotte’s location in close proximity to many ACC schools into a large crowd.

"Both teams have played extremely hard this year with every game being very competitive," bowl executive director Will Webb said in a statement. "We feel that the Tigers and Bulls will be a very entertaining and compelling matchup on the field for everyone watching."

The Meineke Car Care Bowl will be played Dec. 31 at noon and will be televised by ESPN, The Charlotte Observer's David Scott reports, capping a busy month of college football at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium.


Pittsburgh has accepted a bid toplay in the Meineke Car Care Bowl at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 26 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

The Panthers (9-3) will meet an ACC team to be announced later this afternoon. This will be Pittsburgh's second appearance in the bowl.

Charlotte’s Meineke Car Care Bowl will move up one spot in the ACC bowl selection order starting in 2010 under an agreement the ACC announced Thursday morning.

The bowl, held each year at Bank of America Stadium, has extended existing deals for four more years with the Big East and now the ACC, and will match teams from both conferences through 2013.