West Virginia -6 (-110) over North Carolina
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- North Carolina will be without starting quarterback Drake Maye for this game, as he has opted out to focus on the upcoming NFL Draft.
- The West Virginia defense is superior to that of North Carolina, which will be amplified by Maye’s absence.
The Duke’s Mayo Bowl features by far the grossest tradition on the college football bowl schedule. The winning coach of this game gets a Gatorade cooler full of mayonnaise dumped on them. Repulsive bowl game traditions aside, the football itself is usually of a pretty high quality in this game. Here, we break down this year’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl and look at the history of this contest as well.
2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl Analysis
Going into this year’s Mayo Bowl, the key story is the absence of Drake Maye. The North Carolina starting quarterback has opted out of this game to prepare for the upcoming NFL Draft, where he is expected to be a first round pick. That opt-out gives West Virginia and their defense a huge advantage over North Carolina, one that would not have been there if Maye was playing.
West Virginia’s defense has the potential to be incredibly difficult for opposing offenses to deal with. That should be the case again in this game as the Mountaineers have the luxury of facing a backup quarterback. But during bowl season, you never know what is going to happen, and West Virginia may not be able to rely on their defense regardless of the pre-game advantages they have.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl History
The history of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl goes all the way back to 2002, before the game went by its current name. This contest has gone by the Continental Tire Bowl, Belk Bowl, and Meineke Car Care Bowl in the past as well. It has tie-ins with the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC. Below is the full list of previous games from this bowl’s lineage over the last couple of decades, including the winners and losers of each.
Year | Winners | Runners-Up |
2002 | Virginia | West Virginia |
2003 | Virginia | Pittsburgh |
2004 | Boston College | North Carolina |
2005 | NC State | USF |
2006 | Boston College | Navy |
2007 | Wake Forest | UConn |
2008 | West Virginia | North Carolina |
2009 | Pittsburgh | North Carolina |
2010 | USF | Clemson |
2011 | NC State | Louisville |
2012 | Cincinnati | Duke |
2013 | North Carolina | Cincinnati |
2014 | Georgia | Louisville |
2015 | Mississippi State | NC State |
2016 | Virginia Tech | Arkansas |
2017 | Wake Forest | Texas A&M |
2018 | Virginia | South Carolina |
2019 | Kentucky | Virginia Tech |
2020 | Wisconsin | Wake Forest |
2021 | South Carolina | North Carolina |
2022 | Maryland | NC State |
Bowl Game MVPs
Any football fan will notice some recognizable names from the history of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Some of them went onto have productive professional careers, while some were just very good collegiate players. In either case, here is the full list of MVPs from the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and all of the games that were played before it took its current name.
Year | MVP | Team |
2002 | Wali Lundy | Virginia |
2003 | Matt Schaub | Virginia |
2004 | Paul Peterson | Boston College |
2005 | Stephen Tulloch | NC State |
2006 | JoLonn Dunbar | Boston College |
2007 | Kenneth Moore | Wake Forest |
2008 | Pat White | West Virginia |
2009 | Dion Lewis | Pittsburgh |
2010 | B.J. Daniels | USF |
2011 | Mike Glennon | NC State |
2012 | Brendon Kay | Cincinnati |
2013 | Ryan Switzer | North Carolina |
2014 | Nick Chubb | Georgia |
2015 | Dak Prescott | Mississippi State |
2016 | Cam Phillips | Virginia Tech |
2017 | John Wolford | Wake Forest |
2018 | Olamide Zaccheaus | Virginia |
2019 | Lynn Bowden | Kentucky |
2020 | Jack Sanborn | Wisconsin |
2021 | Dakereon Joyner | South Carolina |
2022 | Jakorian Bennett | Maryland |