Tar Heels bowl eligible in 1st year of Brown’s return

By NOAH TRISTER

Mack Brown and North Carolina are bowl eligible after routing a rival.

The Tar Heels on Saturday night, reaching six victories in Brown’s first season of a second stint as North Carolina’s coach. There are 79 bowl-eligible teams, one more than needed to fill the 78 slots.

Kent State beat Eastern Michigan 34-26 on Friday. The Golden Flashes finished the regular season on a three-game winning streak and are bowl eligible for the first time since 2012.

Oregon State fell short of ending its drought, on Saturday. Oregon State hasn’t been to a bowl since 2013.

The states of Florida and Ohio have the most bowl-eligible teams with six each. Michigan is next with five.

These 79 teams are bowl eligible. One will be left on the outside looking in:

Air Force

Alabama

Appalachian State

Arkansas State

Arizona State

Auburn

Baylor

Boise State

Boston College

Buffalo

BYU

California

Central Florida

Central Michigan

Charlotte

Cincinnati

Clemson

Eastern Michigan

Florida

Florida Atlantic

Florida International

Florida State

Georgia

Georgia Southern

Georgia State

Hawaii

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas State

Kent State

Kentucky

Liberty

Louisiana-Lafayette

Louisiana Tech

Louisville

LSU

Marshall

Memphis

Miami

Miami (Ohio)

Michigan

Michigan State

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Navy

Nevada

North Carolina

Notre Dame

Ohio

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Oregon

Penn State

Pittsburgh

San Diego State

SMU

Southern California

Southern Mississippi

Temple

Tennessee

Texas

Texas A&M

Toledo

Tulane

UAB

Utah

Utah State

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

Washington

Washington State

Western Kentucky

Western Michigan

Wisconsin

Wyoming

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