List of North Carolina Tar Heels bowl games

File:WVU UNC 2008.jpg

North Carolina quarterback T. J. Yates with the ball in North Carolina's end-zone during the 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl.

The North Carolina Tar Heels football team competes as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), representing the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Since the establishment of the team in 1888, North Carolina has appeared in 33 bowl games, including three combined appearances in the traditional "big four" bowl games (the Rose, Sugar, Cotton, and Orange).

North Carolina's first bowl game was in 1947, when head coach Carl Snavely led them to the Sugar Bowl, where they lost to Georgia 20–10. Snavely led the Tar Heels to another Sugar Bowl and one Cotton Bowl, which both resulted in losses for the Tar Heels. Taking over for Snavely following the 1952 season was George Barclay, who did not lead the Tar Heels to any bowl games during his three-season tenure. Barclay's successor, Jim Tatum, coached for three years without reaching a bowl game. Jim Hickey replaced Tatum after the 1958 season and coached North Carolina to one bowl game, the 1963 Gator Bowl, where they won their first bowl game in program history.

Bill Dooley succeeded Hickey as head coach and led the Tar Heels to six bowl games through his eleven-season run as head coach. Of the six bowls Dooley led North Carolina to, they won only one, the 1972 Sun Bowl. Dick Crum took over as head coach before the 1978 season. Crum led the Tar Heels to four consecutive bowl victories before losing the final two of his tenure at Carolina. Crum handed over control of the program to Mack Brown after the 1987 season. Brown assisted the Tar Heels into making a bowl game in six straight seasons; however, before the 1998 Gator Bowl, Brown accepted the head coaching position at the University of Texas at Austin and was subsequently barred from coaching in the bowl game. Defensive coordinator Carl Torbush was promoted to head coach. Torbush led the Tar Heels to two bowl victories – the 1998 Gator Bowl and the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl – before being let go after the 2000 season.

North Carolina alum John Bunting was hired as coach before the 2001 season. Bunting led the Tar Heels to a 16–10 Peach Bowl victory in his inaugural season, and later to the 2004 Continental Tire Bowl, where they lost to Boston College. Bunting was dismissed after the 2006 season. North Carolina's then Athletic Director, Dick Baddour, subsequently hired Butch Davis to be the coach of the Tar Heels. Davis brought the Tar Heels to three bowl games before being fired in the midst of an NCAA investigation into the North Carolina football program. Everett Withers took over the program as the interim head coach for the 2011 season. Withers helped the Tar Heels become bowl-eligible and participate in the 2011 Independence Bowl, where they lost by seventeen points to the Missouri Tigers. Larry Fedora, coming off of a successful season as the head coach for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team, was hired to be the next head coach for the Tar Heels. After obtaining a bowl eligible record but not being able to play in the postseason due to self-imposed sanctions in his first year, Fedora led North Carolina to a victory in the Belk Bowl over Cincinnati in his second season.

Key

General Bowl game record attendance Former bowl game record attendance

Results W Win L Loss

Bowl games

List of bowl games showing bowl played in, score, date, season, opponent, stadium, location, attendance and head coach

#	Bowl	Score	Date	Season	Opponent	Stadium	Location	Attendance	Head coach
1	Sugar Bowl	L 10 !L 10–20	01947-01-01 January 1, 1947	1946	Georgia Bulldogs	Tulane Stadium	New Orleans	73,300	Snavely, CarlCarl Snavely
2	Sugar Bowl	L 08 !L 6–14	01949-01-01 January 1, 1949	1948	Oklahoma Sooners	Tulane Stadium	New Orleans	82,000	Snavely, CarlCarl Snavely
3	Cotton Bowl Classic	L 14 !L 13–27	01950-01-02 January 2, 1950	1949	Rice	Cotton Bowl	Dallas	75,347	Snavely, CarlCarl Snavely
4	Gator Bowl	W 35 !W 35–0	01963-12-28 December 28, 1963	1963	Air Force	Gator Bowl Stadium	Jacksonville	50,018	Hickey, JimJim Hickey
5	Peach Bowl	L 22 !L 26–48	01970-12-30 December 30, 1970	1970	Arizona State Sun Devils	Grant Field	Atlanta	52,126	Dooley, BillBill Dooley
6	Gator Bowl	L 4 !L 3–7	01971-12-31 December 31, 1971	1971	Georgia Bulldogs	Gator Bowl Stadium	Jacksonville	71,208	Dooley, BillBill Dooley
7	Sun Bowl	W 04 !W 32–28	01972-12-30 December 30, 1972	1972	Texas Tech Red Raiders	Sun Bowl Stadium	El Paso	31,312	Dooley, BillBill Dooley
8	Sun Bowl	L 02 !L 24–26	01974-12-28 December 28, 1974	1974	Mississippi State Bulldogs	Sun Bowl Stadium	El Paso	30,131	Dooley, BillBill Dooley
9	Peach Bowl	L 21 !L 0–21	01976-12-31 December 31, 1976	1976	Kentucky Wildcats	Fulton County Stadium	Georgia	54,132	Dooley, BillBill Dooley
10	Liberty Bowl	L 04 !L 17–21	01977-12-19 December 19, 1977	1977	Nebraska Cornhuskers	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	Memphis	49,456	Dooley, BillBill Dooley
11	Gator Bowl	W 02 !W 17–15	01979-12-28 December 28, 1979	1979	Michigan Wolverines	Gator Bowl Stadium	Jacksonville	70,407	Crum, DickDick Crum
12	Bluebonnet Bowl	W 09 !W 16–7	01980-12-31 December 31, 1980	1980	Texas Longhorns	Houston Astrodome	Houston	36,667	Crum, DickDick Crum
13	Gator Bowl	W 04 !W 31-27	01981-12-28 December 28, 1981	1981	Arkansas Razorbacks	Gator Bowl Stadium	Jacksonville	71,009	Crum, DickDick Crum
14	Sun Bowl	W 16 !W 26–10	01982-12-25 December 25, 1982	1982	Texas Longhorns	Sun Bowl Stadium	El Paso	31,359	Crum, DickDick Crum
15	Peach Bowl	L 25 !L 3–28	01983-12-30 December 30, 1983	1983	Florida State Seminoles	Fulton County Stadium	Georgia	25,648	Crum, DickDick Crum
16	Aloha Bowl	L 09 !L 21–30	01986-12-27 December 27, 1986	1986	Arizona Wildcats	Aloha Stadium	Honolulu	26,743	Crum, DickDick Crum
17	Peach Bowl	W 04 !W 21–17	01993-01-02 January 2, 1993	1992	Mississippi State Bulldogs	Georgia Dome	Georgia	69,125	Brown, MackMack Brown
18	Gator Bowl	L 14 !L 10–24	01993-12-31 December 31, 1993	1993	Alabama Crimson Tide	Gator Bowl Stadium	Jacksonville	67,205	Brown, MackMack Brown
20	CarQuest Bowl	W 10 !W 20–10	01995-12-30 December 30, 1995	1995	Arkansas Razorbacks	Joe Robbie Stadium	Miami	34,428	Brown, MackMack Brown
21	Gator Bowl	W 07 !W 20–13	01997-01-01 January 1, 1997	1996	West Virginia Mountaineers	Jacksonville Municipal Stadium	Jacksonville	45,202	Brown, MackMack Brown
22	Gator Bowl	W 39 !W 42–3	01998-01-01 January 1, 1998	1997	Virginia Tech Hokies	Alltel Stadium	Jacksonville	54,116	Torbush, CarlCarl Torbush
23	Las Vegas Bowl	W 07 !W 20–13	01998-12-19 December 19, 1998	1998	San Diego State Aztecs	Sam Boyd Stadium	Whitney	21,429	Torbush, CarlCarl Torbush
24	Peach Bowl	W 06 !W 16–10	02001-12-31 December 31, 2001	2001	Auburn Tigers	Georgia Dome	Atlanta	71,827	Bunting, JohnJohn Bunting
25	Continental Tire Bowl	L 13 !L 24–37	02004-12-30 December 30, 2004	2004	Boston College	Bank of America Stadium	Charlotte	70,412	Bunting, JohnJohn Bunting
26	Meineke Car Care Bowl	L 01 !L 30–31	02008-12-27 December 27, 2008	2008	West Virginia Mountaineers	Bank of America Stadium	Charlotte	73,712	Davis, ButchButch Davis
27	Meineke Car Care Bowl	L 02 !L 17–19	02009-12-26 December 26, 2009	2009	Pittsburgh Panthers	Bank of America Stadium	Charlotte	50,389	Davis, ButchButch Davis
28	Music City Bowl	W 03 !W 30–272OT	02010-12-31 December 31, 2010	2010	Tennessee Volunteers	LP Field	Nashville	69,143	Davis, ButchButch Davis
29	Independence Bowl	L 17 !L 24–41	02011-12-26 December 26, 2011	2011	Missouri Tigers	Independence Stadium	Shreveport	41,728	Withers, EverettEverett Withers
30	Belk Bowl	W 22 !W 39–17	02013-12-28 December 28, 2013	2013	Cincinnati Bearcats	Bank of America Stadium	Charlotte	45,211	Fedora, LarryLarry Fedora
31	Quick Lane Bowl	L 19 !L 21–40	02014-12-26 December 26, 2014	2014	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	Ford Field	Detroit	23,876	Fedora, LarryLarry Fedora
32	Russell Athletic Bowl	L 11 !L 38–49	December 29, 2015	2015	Baylor Bears	Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium	Orlando	40.418	Fedora, LarryLarry Fedora
33	Sun Bowl	L 05 !L 23–25	02016-12-30 December 30, 2016	2016	Stanford	Sun Bowl Stadium	El Paso	42,166	Fedora, LarryLarry Fedora

References

General

• National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "Bowl/All-Star Game Records" (PDF). 2013 NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA.org. Archived from the original on July 22, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140722104251/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2013/bowls.pdf. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
• "History" (PDF). 2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Football Media Guide. University of North Carolina. Archived from the original on May 23, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140523172239/http://www.goheels.com/fls/3350/old_site/pdf/m-footbl/History_125-158.pdf?SPID=12962&DB_OEM_ID=3350. Retrieved May 21, 2014.

Specific

Bibliography

• Dunnavant, Keith (2004). The Fifty-Year Seduction: How Television Manipulated College Football, from the Birth of the Modern NCAA to the Creation of the BCS. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-32345-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=aGFZn-JjWnkC&lpg=PA93&dq=%22big%20four%22%20%22Bowl%20game%22&pg=PA93#v=onepage&q=%22big%20four%22%20%22Bowl%20game%22&f=false. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
• Powell, Adam (2006). University of North Carolina Football. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-4288-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=lzI6FFaTR6gC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false.