Carolina football fans are not exactly thrilled with reports that the Tar Heels will get an invite to Charlotte’s Car Care Bowl. “Stinks,” “sux”, and “disappointed” are among the reactions.

The prospect of playing yet another Big East team — Pitt or West Virginia — is also not considered very attractive, not when the idea of beating up on an overhyped SEC team — perhaps a listing South Carolina — had been floating around. Plus Carolina came to Charlotte on a 6-win season back in 2004. This year’s 8-win campaign had the prospect of bringing a better bowl bid, such as the Gator, the scene of previous Tar Heel signature wins.

But the theme for this year’s bowl selections seems to be safety first. The Peach Bowl in Atlanta is likely to go local with Georgia Tech. The Gator opted for the proven Clemson fanbase despite the Tigers iffy performance on the field. And the Car Care folks seem to be thrilled with the Tar Heels and Charlotte’s huge base of UNC alums.

Me, I doubt I’ll make the drive down Providence Road to watch the Heels at BofA. I did that in 2004. It was alright, but not exactly my idea of a college bowl game experience. It didn’t help that the Tar Heels lost of course. However, the pre-game “festivities” such as they were in Uptown — the de rigueur “street scape,” the UNC pep rally in Founders Hall — were nothing special.

If 65,000 other Tar Heel fans show up Uptown, super. It’ll take a blowout win to make them happy to be there, though.