CHARLOTTE, N.C. Belk Bowl officials have announced Louisville will face North Carolina State in the diversion on Dec. 27.Both teams finished the regular season 7-5.Louisville tied for the best conference record in the Big East at 5-2, but lost the BCS tiebreaker to West Virginia. After the rough start, the Cardinals finished with wins over West Virginia as well as Rutgers.N.C. State finished in fourth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with its signature win coming against eventual league champion Clemson. The Wolfpack overcame the 27-point second half deficit in the season finale to defeat Maryland as well as secure the play berth.Louisville has won all three previous meetings between the two schools. The Cardinals defeated the Wolfpack 27-10 in the last meeting in 2007 at Carter Finley Stadium.Will Webb, the executive director of the Belk Bowl, said he's excited about the matchup."Louisville has played very well this season. Every diversion has been very competitive, with no loss by more than nine points," Webb said "And N.C. State has shown great resiliency, winning three of their last four games to become play eligible, including the win over Clemson."We feel which the Cardinals as well as Wolfpack are very strong teams which should be the tremendous matchup in Charlotte."This is the Wolfpack's third play appearance in coach Tom O'Brien's five-year tenure as well as its 26th all-time postseason appearance. They are 13-11-1 in play games.In his 15 years as the head coach, O'Brien has coached 11 teams which have earned postseason play bids. O'Brien's last seven teams at Boston College won play games, an NCAA-best at which time for consecutive play wins.Last season, N.C. State defeated No. 22 West Virginia in the Champs Sports Bowl."Our team is thrilled about the opportunity to play in the Belk Bowl," O'Brien said. "This is the great reward for their tenacity as well as refusal to give up this season. It's also the great reward for our fans, who always play the major role in our success. With the q! uality o pponent like Louisville, it should be an exciting game."N.C. State director of athletics Deborah A Yow said the Wolfpack is pleased to be returning to Charlotte for the play game. They beat South Florida 14-0 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in 2005."Charlotte always rolls out their Southern hospitality to visitors," Yow said. "We have the first-class competition venue for the diversion as well as easy travel to the city for thousands of Wolfpackers living within the four hour drive. That is the terrific combination."Louisville is making its 16th postseason appearance as well as second straight under second-year coach Charlie Strong.The Cardinals are 7-7-1 all-time in postseason play as well as have won their last two contests. Louisville defeated Southern Miss, 31-28, in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl the year ago.The Cardinals feature one of the youngest teams in the country with the combined 10 freshmen starting on offense as well as defense.Of those freshmen, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has made the biggest splash, throwing for 1,855 yards as well as 12 touchdowns breaking Chris Redman's freshman passing yards record. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Michaelee Harris leads the Cardinals with 37 receptions for 455 yards as well as the pair of scores.N.C. State is led by quarterback Mike Glennon, who has thrown for 2,790 yards as well as 28 touchdowns."We have fought through the lot of adversity this year as well as to end the year with the high-quality play diversion versus the tough opponent like N.C. State is the great way to end the year," Strong said."This diversion is the reward for the great coaching job by Charlie (Strong) as well as the staff, as well as the great reward for our team, which exceeded everyone's expectations," said Tom Jurich, the vice president/athletic director at Louisville. "Charlotte is the wonderful city, as well as we are playing in an NFL stadium against the high-quality opponent in NC State. Charlotte is close in proximity for our fans as well as could be an easy drive after th! e Christ mas holiday."
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