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CHARLOTTE -- Did the North Carolina Tar Heels aspire to the Orange Bowl?

Of course they did. ACC football in 2008 was an oversized version of youth league ball: pats on the back for participation and mild, self-propelled whacks to the head for lamentations of missed opportunities.

As consolation prizes go, the Meineke Car Care Bowl isn't such a bad deal. It offers a sold-out NFL stadium, a noteworthy opponent in West Virginia and, for the first time in more than a decade, the assumption that a bowl victory will really mean something in the long term.

"We've flipped our win-loss record around, and this would be another step in what we're trying to do," sophomore quarterback T.J. Yates said, referring to an 8-4 year after coach Butch Davis debuted at 4-8 in 2007.

The postseason appearance is UNC's third this decade and its first since the Gator Bowl of Jan. 1, 1997, with an established head coach -- Mack Brown then, Davis now -- in charge. When the Heels demolished Virginia Tech in the Jan. 1, 1998 Gator Bowl, they were still stung by Brown's departure for Texas three weeks earlier.

John Bunting's first team rebounded from an 0-3 start to make and win the Peach Bowl in 2001, but the significance of that affair was uncertain. It was to be the final college game for defensive linemen Julius Peppers and Ryan Sims and for quarterback Ronald Curry, all of whom are still in the NFL (Curry's a wide receiver.). The cloud that permeated the program after Brown's exit hadn't lifted. Bunting still hadn't gone through an entire recruiting cycle as a major-college head coach, after all.

The next two seasons were barren, and the appearance in the 2004 installment of this game, then called the Continental Tire Bowl, was encouraging but not validating. The previous two recruiting classes, which had entered with considerable acclaim, had already started suffering disturbing attrition that would mitigate their relevance.

In its two years of operation, Davis' program has been marked by improved retention of players and staff and quick contributions from many of the early signees. Tackle Marvin Austin, whose commitment to Davis was the first mile marker of the new administration, hasn't disappointed. End Robert Quinn, a true freshman, overcame emergency brain surgery in 2007 to finish third in the voting for Defensive Rookie of the Year in the ACC. Sophomore linebacker Bruce Carter spearheaded consecutive wins over Miami and Connecticut by rejecting four consecutive punts.

Nine defensive starters are set to return for 2009. That's the sort of experience level Carolina enjoyed and rode to excellence in 1996 and '97; those teams produced 10 NFL draftees on defense alone.

Veterans also speak of organization that reflects Davis' NFL days.

"We always had talent on the team, but I don't think in the past that we put in the time outside of (practice) such as watching film or offseason drills," senior defensive back Trimane Goddard said.

"Since (Davis) has gotten here, players have taken it upon themselves to believe that football isn't just that time of the day when you meet with coaches or practice."

The Heels lost starting quarterback T.J. Yates and wide receiver and kick-return demon Brandon Tate for more than half the season and found ways to compensate. Granted, much of that compensation came from Hakeem Nicks, the brilliant junior wide receiver who may not be around for his senior season, but today's game is a potentially important barometer because it represents Yates' first appearance with complete health and confidence in three months. A big game from Yates would do wonders for the Heels' offensive self-esteem.

But the biggest reason for the springboard effect is the larger context. A bowl win would be UNC's first since ACC expansion created divisions and gave everybody a better mathematical shot at relative greatness.

When UNC last won a bowl game, Florida State, only two years removed from a national title, still looked like a dominant program that offered no realistic hope to the rest of the league. The Seminoles were as monstrous as they had been in every other year of their ACC membership, which dates to the 1992 season.

To find a time as hopeful as the present for Carolina, you've probably got to go back to 1982, when the Tar Heels won the Sun Bowl.

Nobody's ready to predict BCS national titles for the Heels, but serious contention for the league championship is already feasible. If they had maintained a 17-3 lead on Virginia Tech back in September, the Heels might be preparing for the Orange Bowl now.

For the time being, they're happy with the Meineke Car Care Bowl, their mood probably eased by faith in an intriguing future.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob. daniels@news-record.com