FanHouse RussellWilson

Tom O'Brien teams traditionally get better as the season goes on -- as North Carolina State did in winning four of its last five games last year. With Wake Forest, Duke and Boston College coming up in the next three weeks, the surging Wolfpack could be 6-1 going into its bye week prior to an Atlantic Division showdown at Florida State.

O'Brien, however, isn't about to get caught up in such nonsense. He's a game-at-a-time head coach, and Saturday's meeting at Wake Forest is N.C. State's first ACC game and first road game.

"All I know is what team I got this week against the team I am going to play," O'Brien said. "I don't know who is going to be here next week. We continue to march on and try to be the best we can weekly."

FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.

Russell Wilson got hurt. With all due respect to Rutgers players, coaches, fans and awesome Pulitzer Prize winning alumni, that's about all you need to re: the PapaJohns.com Bowl. Of course, it's also all you need to know about North Carolina State's season -- when Wilson was healthy and in the game, the Wolfpack were one of the most exciting teams in the NCAA, and when he wasn't, well, they were the type of team that could give up a first half lead to a suddenly struggling Rutgers team.

Again though: Rutgers = not bad. They came in having won six straight games, but, caveats aside, you couldn't tell by the time the clock struck zeroes on the first half. The Wolfpacka dominated, Mike Teel struggled mightily, and it looked like a runaway win for State. Then Wilson got hurt.

Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the PapaJohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Alabama), which pits North Carolina State against Rutgers.

Overview / Matchup: Birmingham got lucky in their bowl draw this year, as both Rutgers and N.C. State come into the postseason on quite the tear. The Wolfpack features All-Universe freshman quarterback Russell Wilson, the first frosh to ever land first team All-Conference in the ACC. Meanwhile, a Cincinnati BCS berth and a six game winning streak to close out the season (highlighted by Mike Teel tossing a redonk seven touchdowns in the season finale against Louisville) lets the Scarlet Knights squeeze into a decent bowl.

Hotels: For luxury accommodation and entertainment, well-heeled travelers should stay at The Wynfrey Hotel. It's a 15-minute drive from town, but the trek is worth it if you want to do any shopping. The hotel is attached to the massive Riverchase Galleria. For good-quality accommodation closer to the stadium, try the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel. The hotel offers the best overall value for bowl travelers, combining reasonable rates with comfortable beds and a great location. For budget-minded travelers, try the Days Inn just across the highway from the stadium. They offer rooms for less than US$100 per night and the proximity can't be beat.

Restaurants/Nightlife: For fine dining in Birmingham, try Bottega Italian Restaurant. Bottega consistently receives great reviews and if the prices prove too steep, the sister restaurant, Bottega Café, next door is a more affordable alternative. Dreamland Bar-B-Que is a cheap, family-friendly alternative to high-end Italian. Dreamland is a local favorite featuring an on-site smoker and arguably the best ribs in Birmingham.

North Carolina State University athletics have not been a strong source of pride for fans, alumni, and, um, people like me (all of the above in a weird way) recently. After all, the team struggled mi-high-tily to start the season in football and wasn't nearly as good as advertised in basketball last year.

But recently, a young man named Russell Wilson has changed the outlook of many a Wolfpack fan with his senior-like play as a freshman under center. The team went on a resurgent tear, "sweeping the state" and beating Miami to become bowl eligible. And everyone involved (or watching) will attribute most of it to Wilson's stellar play. And for that, he has been rewarded with First Team All-ACC recognition.

North Carolina State's Russell Wilson became the first freshman quarterback picked to the all-ACC first team, while Yellow Jackets running back Jonathan Dwyer and Demon Deacons cornerback Alphonso Smith were the only unanimous selections.

Wilson received 106 of 134 possible votes and anyone with any rational sense of what's gone on in the ACC over the past few weeks will tell you it's well deserved.

And yes, in fairness, it is an equal testament to a down year in the ACC -- it's entirely likely that if there were a few legitimate powerhouses in the conference, Wilson wouldn't have won this award. But that aside, it's absolutely imperative to recognize that the all purpose freshman is in fact the truth, and should he decide to not continue a career in baseball, will be making waves in the ACC over the next few years.

That's not to say that we should all get as enthusiastic as the fine gentlemen at State Fans Nation, but if you want to hop on a rising star's bandwagon before it gets all Boston-style annoying, Wilson is your guy.

NC State football has not been what you would call "great" this year; Russell Wilson has been a pleasant surprise and the team is showing some improvement under Tom O'Brien, particularly as the year closes out, but, yeah, it hasn't been the greatest season for Wolfpack fans.

But that doesn't mean that the game this week against North Carolina has lost any importance -- it actually gives State, with wins already over Wake Forest, Duke and East Carolina -- a shot at "sweeping the state." But, please don't try and tell Tarheel coach Butch Davis that it really matters.

"At the end of the season," North Carolina coach Butch Davis said Monday, "they're all insignificant, it's just the number [of wins]. During the course of the season, certainly there's games -- home games take on more importance than road games sometimes, conference games take on more importance than other games. Marquee games against Notre Dame take on a certain amount.

See, I tend to disagree ... but then again, I'm not a hired gun just looking for the next marquee job Butch Davis, so how can I really know? The truth is that for as much as someone like Davis would like to downplay the idea that State and Carolina aren't rivals (there's a distinctly elitist and somewhat delusional approach to this rivalry from the Chapel Hill side), such a meme only exists in the basketball world.

In football, this is very much a huge game, and while it probably hurts to admit as much coming off a loss to Maryland, Butch should probably own up to the fact that Notre Dame would be the worst team he's played all season if he hadn't been so full of foresight as to schedule McNeese St. instead of App.