Football Bowl Games

Jeff Barker

Navy-Wake Forest rematch possible

The president and executive director of the inaugural EagleBank Bowl said last night that a rematch of Navy and Wake Forest is a "strong possibility."

After conversations yesterday with Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk, Steve Beck said he is confident the no-rematch stipulation will be waived by the Midshipmen.

Gladchuk said in Annapolis yesterday that circumstances that left the Dec. 20 game at RFK Stadium in Washington without many options from the Atlantic Coast Conference paved the way for Navy to face Wake Forest for the second time this season.

The Midshipmen beat the then-No. 16 Demon Deacons, 24-17, in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Sept. 27.

"It's the scenario that makes the most sense," Gladchuk said. "We've had a great relationship with Wake Forest. ... I think it would be more enjoyable across the board if it were a fresh new look, but if you look at what the NCAA has laid out and what the ACC has laid out, it's conceivable that if you put those two doctrines together, it spits out one answer: Wake Forest."

The EagleBank Bowl gets the ninth bowl-eligible team from the ACC. Because it appears that Miami (7-5) is headed for the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, and North Carolina State (6-6) has to look for an at-large bid because it is technically the 10th bowl-eligible team, Wake Forest (7-5) might be the only choice.

There is still a possibility that the EagleBank Bowl could swap one of its spots with another bowl to bring in a different team, but Beck said that Wake Forest "wants to come to D.C."