The last time these two teams met in this exact same situation, well, we remember what happened. The Great Offsides That Wasn’t still haunts me. Winning this one probably wouldn’t be able to completely undo the consternation of that one, but it would at least make me feel a bit better.
The Tar Heels come limping into this one (though, admittedly, the Tigers do too) having dropped consecutive games to Georgia Tech and NC State to close the regular season. In a different year in a different scenario, maybe these two teams would be playing for a College Football Playoff appearance.