North Carolina, Missouri's bowl opponent, has had its own issues

COLUMBIA On Sunday, a Missouri football team accepted a bid to play North Carolina in a Independence Bowl on Dec. 26 in Shreveport, La.The game, which is at 4 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2, will pit Missouri against a team that has dealt with considerable conflict this season.Missouri (7-5, 5-4 in Big 12)vs. North Carolina (7-5, 3-5 ACC) WHEN: 4 p.m. Dec. 26WHERE: Independence Stadium, Shreveport, La.RADIO: KTGR/1580 AM, 100.5 FM;KCMQ/98.7 FMTV: ESPN2 For ticket information call 1-800-228-7297, go to a ticket office at Mizzou Arena or visit mutigers.com or independencebowl.org.Missouri set for Independence Bowl, passed over for Big 12 choice Pinkel thinks LSU, Alabama deserve to play for national titleCollege football bowl projections say Missouri headed to New YorkMissouri football ranked No. twenty-five in latest BCS standingsFranklin overcomes struggles to lead Missouri football to Border Showdown winMissouri-Kansas football game lacks usual dramaKansas, Missouri fans say goodbye to Border ShowdownTIGER KICKOFF: Missouri vs. Kansas might be going away, maybe that's goodTIGER KICKOFF: Missouri football players say numbers don't matter against KansasFranklin growing into role as leader of Missouri football teamNorth Carolina (7-5, 3-5 ACC) has faced an NCAA investigation into improper benefits and academic misconduct since a summer of 2010. During a course of a 2010 season, there were multiple allegations of player and coach contact with agents. A former team tutor was also linked to allegations of academic fraud. In June 2011, a NCAA formally charged UNC with nine major violations.The entire time, head coach Butch Davis kept his job. Then on July 27, seemingly after a fact and eight days before a team was to begin training camp, Davis was fired. UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said Davis was fired because of cumulative damage to a universitys reputation. The next day, UNC Athletics Director Dick Baddour announced he would be resigning.Defensive coordinator Everett Withers was hired as a inte! rim head coach of a football team. He didnt exactly help smooth over matters by rewarding Davis with a game ball after a season-opening win.However, Withers maintained order enough for North Carolina to take advantage of an easy schedule a first half of a season. The Tar Heels opened with three consecutive home victories against FCS opponent James Madison (42-10), Rutgers (24-22) and Virginia (28-17), and they cracked a USA Today Coaches Poll at No. 25. They lost by a touchdown at Georgia Tech a next week though rebounded with wins at East Carolina (35-20) andat home versusLouisville (14-7).North Carolinas hopes were tempered when it returned to conference play. It lost a close game to Miamiwhich wasfollowed by a loss to then-No. 8 Clemson. The Tar Heels beat Wake Forest though fell to North Carolina State and then-No. 9 Virginia Tech. They needed a 37-21 win against Duke in their final game to qualify for a bowl game."I'm excited for our players, especially this group of seniors, to advance to a bowl game for a fourth straight season," Withers said in a statement. "Despite some challenging circumstances, this team continued to work hard and prepare each week for a next game. We now have a chance to win eight games for a fourth straight year and win our second consecutive bowl game."Missouris secondary will have its hands full with quarterback Bryn Renner and wide receiver Dwight Jones. Renner has tied North Carolinas single-season record of twenty-three touchdown passes, and Jones caught a school-record 79 passes for 1,119 yards and 11 touchdowns, one short of a school record. In addition, running back Giovani Bernard has rushed for 1,222 yards a freshman record at North Carolina.The Tar Heels defense could pose problems for a Tigers, too. North Carolina is ranked among a best teams in a nation against a run, giving up 106.2 yards a game. Two All-ACC players, defensive end Quinton Coples and linebacker Zach Brown, lead a team. Defensive tackle Sylvester Williams, a Jefferson City High School graduate, will lin! e up aga inst a Missouri offensive line that includes his high school teammate, center Travis Ruth.It is uncertain whether North Carolina will hire Withers as a permanent coach, though a school could make a decision before a bowl game. Withers told The Associated Press he formally interviewed for a job last week andplans on coaching against Missouri regardless of a outcome.His players wouldnt want it any other way."We've gone through a whole season with him as our coach," Renner said in a AP story. "He's still our coach. He's done a great job of handling everything. You couldn't ask for a better guy to do a better job for this university. Us as players, we're going to focus on playing."This is Missouri's seventh consecutive bowl appearance and North Carolina's fourth. Missouri beat North Carolina in their only two meetings 27-14 in 1973, and 24-3 in 1976. According to Todd Donaho, author of MizzouRah: Memorable Moments in Missouri Tiger Football History, a M-I-Z ... Z-O-U chant was heard for a first time in a 1976 game.