news-record.com

Perhaps it should be known as the Renaissance Bowl.

N.C. State's four-game winning streak to end the regular season will deliver the Wolfpack to the Papajohns.com Bowl against Rutgers, another team that began 1-5 but surged into postseason. The Pack, the ACC's 10th bowl-eligible team, got the spot when the SEC failed to fill its contractual obligation to the contest, set for Dec. 29 in Birmingham, Ala. The Scarlet Knights (7-5) earned the Big East's invitation to the game.

                In getting the Pack to a game outside its original parameters, the ACC becomes the first conference in history to place 10 members in postseason play.

                The bid ends the Pack's two-year postseason drought and is the 24th in school history. State is 12-10-1 in postseason games.

A season of uncommon misfortune ultimately normalized in time for the Wolfpack to get itself eligible and under consideration. Nine starters , for example, were out when the Pack hosted No. 13 South Florida on Sept. 27. The Bulls won 41-10 on that rainy night, but there was still plenty of football to be played.

The Bulls dropped four of their final five regular-season games to fade into obscurity while the Wolfpack started rolling. Redshirt freshman quarterback Russell Wilson, whose regular season began with a concussion and a hospital stay at South Carolina, ended with a streak of 226 passes without an interception.

                The Scarlet Knights did much the same. Winless against FBS opposition in mid-October, they ran off six consecutive victories, averaging 46.2 points over the last five.