MIAMI GARDENS, FL – Nothing is etched in stone, but North Carolina is as close to playing in a major bowl game as it’s been since 2015, and really since the 1990s when Mack Brown was last at the helm in Chapel Hill.

The Tar Heels’ 62-26 win over No. 10 Miami on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium was so thorough it’s likely they will leapfrog the Canes in the College Football Playoff poll Tuesday evening and stand in a prime spot to nab an invitation to the Orange Bowl, provided Clemson defeats Notre Dame in the ACC championship game this weekend.

That’s basically all that stands in between UNC playing in its first major bowl game since the 1949 season and falling just short.

“I hope it works out where we get to go to the Orange Bowl,” Brown said, following his team’s annihilation of the Hurricanes. “We haven't been to a major bowl since the 40s, so this would be an unbelievable accomplishment for these guys. Jeremy just told me that we haven't beaten the top 10 team since 2004, and that was Miami. So, really a special night and I'm so proud of these young guys.”

This time two years ago, the Tar Heels had won just six of their previous 21 games, which led to Larry Fedora’s termination and pulling Brown from a comfortable retirement. He said there was just one place he’d coach again, and that place came calling, so he and his wife, Sally, accepted.

Now here they are, 24 games into his reclamation project and the program will at the very least play in the Gator Bowl, and very well could end up in the Orange Bowl. That’s why Carolina players are suddenly Clemson fans.

If the Tigers lose to the Fighting Irish on Saturday in Charlotte, Clemson will fall into the Orange Bowl. A win by Dabo Swinney’s team will put it in the CFP and likely send UNC to the Orange Bowl, returning to the scene of perhaps the greatest performance in program history in a big game. In addition to the score, UNC out-gained Miami 778 total yards to 314.

Now, they’re pulling for an orange team so they can play in the Orange Bowl.

“We definitely are pulling for Clemson to win it, but we'll see,” said senior UNC linebacker Chazz Surratt. “I don't know if I’ll watch it or not. I probably will because I'm a football fan. So, yeah, I'll probably be watching the game.”

Four bowls with ACC tie-ins have been canceled: Fenway Bowl; Sun Bowl; Quick Lanes Bowl; and the Holiday Bowl.

In addition, Boston College, Pittsburgh, band Virginia each of which have completed their seasons, have opted out of the bowl season, so neither will play in a bowl game.

The Tar Heels lost to Rice, 27-13, in the Cotton Bowl, which was actually played Jan. 2, 1950. That was Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice’s senior season and the last time Carolina was in a major bowl.

The program has played in a healthy handful of second-tier bowl, including the Gator Bowl seven times but not since Brown’s last season during his first period as UNC’s coach. The 1997 Tar Heels blasted Virginia Tech, 42-3, on Jan. 1, 1998. UNC has played in five Peach Bowls, too.