Not since the time of Charlie “Choo-Choo” Justice have the North Carolina Tar Heels played in such a prestigious bowl game. From the 1930s until 2014, the traditional “big four” bowl games were the Rose, Sugar, Cotton, and Orange. Carolina played in the 1947 and 1949 Sugar Bowls, and the 1950 Cotton Bowl Classic.
In the 31 subsequent bowl appearances since their 27-13 loss to Rice in 1950, the Tar Heels were never selected to one of those elite bowls. The Tar Heels of 1972, 1980, and 1997 should have broken this streak years ago, but the article about the politics of college football bowl selections will be saved in the draft folder for another time.