UNC vs. Baylor Bowl Preview Round-up
The 26th annual Russell Athletic Bowl between 10th ranked North Carolina and 17th ranked Baylor is just 18 days away but has already gained attention as one of the top-ranked bowl games in the country.
Throughout the week members of the national media have talked about and previewed the matchup between two of the nation’s best offenses.
Here’s a roundup of what media are saying about the 26th annual Russell Athletic Bowl.
Bill Connelly of SBNation breaks down the match-up using advanced statistics
Meanwhile SBNation’s Baylor site, Our Daily Bears discussed the game (and our Twitter account) on their weekly podcast
Shehan Jeyarajah of the Dallas News says Baylor will be playing for respect
It may not be a New Year’s Six opportunity, but there will be plenty of eyeballs on this quality matchup. Both teams will be fighting for national cachet.
Andrea Adelson and Brandon Chatmon of ESPN.com preview the game from each team’s perspective
John Werner, Waco Trib writes about the motivation for both teams, including Larry Fedora’s Baylor ties
“Baylor is where I cut my teeth in college football and two of my children were born there, so it’s kind of special,” Fedora said. “We get to play a great football team in Baylor and it’s an Art Briles coached team. I think our guys will be extremely excited about this opportunity.”
John Bauman of the “Keeping It Heel” blog on Fansided thinks the match-up will be fun
Another interesting storyline to watch will be how motivated the Tar Heels are for this game. In last year’s bowl game, the Heels put up a really poor effort against a not very good Rutgers team. This year, considering that the Russell Athletic Bowl is bigger and the opponent, Baylor, is more prestigious, will the Tar Heels come out and play harder? Only time will tell.