NC State made the trip to Tampa, Florida, to play in the 2025 Gasparilla Bowl earlier in the week, but preparations for the 2026 season are already well underway for the Wolfpack and the ACC. The Pack found out where it fell in the unique scheduling situation for the conference in 2026 on Tuesday.

The Wolfpack forced overtime with two second-half goals, but Washington scored less than two minutes into overtime.

There are six bowl games beyond CFP purview that are going down between Tuesday and Friday. Here's how to watch each of them.

Raleigh, North Carolina; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Wolfpack -33.5; over/under is 158.5 BOTTOM LINE: Texas Southern will try to end its five-game road skid when the Tigers play NC State.

The Tigers (8-4) will face the Wolfpack (7-5) on Dec. 19 (1:30 p.m., ESPN) in the Gasparilla Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Memphis has an interim coach in Reggie Howard because Ryan Silverfield left for Arkansas after the regular season ended.

The ACC announced matchups for 2026, which is being treated as a transitional season as it adopts the nine-game conference schedule.

The ACC, UVA Athletics and NC State announced a week ago that the ‘Hoos and Wolfpack would be opening the 2026 football season in Brazil.

NC State's historic run to their first NCAA Men's College Cup final ended in heartbreak as Washington sealed a 3-2 victory with an overtime goal in Cary, NC.