Texas A&M to take on ACC foe Wake Forest in Belk Bowl

Texas A&M’s football season began in a state on the West Coast and will end in a state on the East Coast.

The Aggies (7-5) learned on Sunday they would be playing Atlantic Coast Conference representative Wake Forest (7-5) in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, N.C.

Belk Bowl kickoff is noon on Dec. 29 at Bank of America Stadium.

The Belk Bowl will be A&M’s ninth consecutive postseason appearance.

Despite the hiring of coach Jimbo Fisher to replace the ousted Kevin Sumlin, special teams coach Jeff Banks is still expected to serve as interim head coach in the bowl game.

This will be A&M’s first appearance in the Belk Bowl.

Andrew Kilzer, TexAgs

Tight ends and special teams coach Jeff Banks will serve as Texas A&M's interim head coach as the Aggies take on the Demon Deacons.

The Belk matchup marks the first time A&M has faced Wake Forest, which finished in a three-way tie for third place behind Clemson and North Carolina State in the ACC’s Atlantic Division.

The Demon Deacons upset Louisville and N.C. State, but fell to Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Duke this season.

Quarterback John Wofford has passed for 2,792 yards and 25 touchdowns and rushed for 615 yards to lead an offense which averages 450.8 yards per game to rank 29th in the nation.

Wake Forest has also been strong in pass protection, allowing just 17 sacks in 12 games.

However, the Deacon defense is quite vulnerable. Wake Forest is ranked 107th in the nation in total defense and allowed more than 30 points in five games.

A&M reportedly had informed the Southeastern Conference office it preferred to play in the Belk or Taxslayer bowls.

The Belk, Taxslayer, Outback Bowl, which is held in Tampa, Liberty Bowl (Memphis), Music City Bowl (Nashville) and Texas Bowl (Houston) are among the “Pool of Six” bowl games which are assigned SEC teams.

SEC teams relegated to the “Pool of Six” bowls are those that are not selected for the College Football Playoff or the selection committee bowl games (Peach, Fiesta, Orange, Cotton).

The Citrus Bowl is allowed to make first selection for an SEC representative. Then the remaining teams are assigned to “Pool of Six” bowls.

The Aggies opened this season with a 45-44 loss at UCLA. They rebounded to post five victories in their next seven games. Consequently, they went into a late October clash with Mississippi State as contenders for the more prestigious Citrus Bowl.

However, A&M lost three of its final five games to fall in the SEC pecking order.