STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State football team will get a chance to finish the 2015 season on a high note.

After losing to Ole Miss 38-27 in the Battle for the Golden Egg on Nov. 28, MSU (8-4) learned Sunday it will get a chance to redeem itself against North Carolina State (7-5) at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 30 (ESPN), in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“This is a great opportunity for our team and our fans to cap off the 2015 season at the Belk Bowl in Charlotte for the first time,” MSU coach Dan Mullen said in a statement. “The senior class is the second-winningest in school history, and they have been to a bowl game every year. We want to send them out the right way for everything they have done for our program. We look forward to seeing our Bulldog fans take over Charlotte in what will be a fun week.”

MSU will begin bowl prep Friday. The practice will be open to the public. The remaining practice schedule will be announced later in the week.

Tickets for the game are on sale at HailState.com/tickets or by calling 1-888-GO-DAWGS. MSU students will be able to purchase tickets beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday on HailState.com/tickets. Student tickets only will be available online. Cowbells will be allowed inside Bank of America Stadium.

This is the 19th bowl appearance and sixth-straight for the Bulldogs. In Mullen’s seven years, the Bulldogs only missed playing in a bowl game in 2009, when they finished 5-7.

MSU is 3-2 in bowl games coached by Mullen. Overall, it is 10-8.

“It’s appropriate that one of the winningest senior classes in Bulldog history will wrap up their MSU careers in one of America’s great cities, against a quality ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) opponent in N.C. State,” MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin said.

N.C. State leads the series 3-2. The teams have met in two bowl games. MSU beat N.C. State 16-12 in the 1963 Liberty Bowl and lost 28-24 in the 1995 Peach Bowl.

All four of MSU’s losses were to Southeastern Conference teams (LSU, Texas A&M, Alabama, and Ole Miss). All four accepted bowl invitations. Alabama is playing Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl in one of two national semifinals.

Senior quarterback Dak Prescott will lead MSU. The Haughton, Louisiana, native has thrown for 3,413 yards and 25 touchdowns (four interceptions). He has rushed for 541 yards and 10 touchdowns. Prescott has broken 38 school records (eight single-game, 15 single-season, and 15 career).

Junior wide receiver Fred Ross has a single-season school-record 81 catches for 933 yards and four touchdowns. Junior wideout De’Runnya Wilson leads the team with nine touchdowns.

Junior linebackers Richie Brown (101 tackles) and Beniquez Brown (90) lead the defense.

N.C. State will make its 29th bowl appearance, and 11th since 2000. The Wolfpack are 15-12-1 in bowl games.

The Wolfpack finished fourth in the ACC’s Atlantic Division with a 3-5 record. Senior quarterback Jacoby Brissett has thrown for 2,448 yards and 19 touchdowns (four interceptions). Sophomore tight end Jaylen Samuels leads the team with 64 catches for 599 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior running back Matthew Dayes has rushed for 865 yards and 12 touchdowns. Sophomore linebacker Airius Moore leads the team with 70 tackles.

“We are excited and thankful to play at the Belk Bowl in the great city of Charlotte,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said in a statement. “The Belk Bowl allows the N.C. State fan base a tremendous opportunity to support their Wolfpack, and I look forward to seeing a sea of red on game day. This is a great reward for our young team that has continued to improve over the course of the season.”

The Bulldogs and Wolfpack will play again in 2020 and 2021. They will meet Sept. 12, 2020, at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Sept. 11, 2021, in Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville.

n In related news, senior cornerback Taveze Calhoun heads to New York City Monday morning as one of 12 national finalists for the 26th William V. Campbell Trophy, which is the most prestigious academic award in college football.

Calhoun will tour Manhattan with the 12 other Campbell Trophy finalists tonight, including stops at Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center. He will participate in a news conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The news conference will be televised live on WatchESPN.com.

“I am excited about my first trip to New York City,” Calhoun said. “It’s an honor to be a finalist for the Campbell Trophy, and I am just thankful for this opportunity. I look forward to visiting with the other finalists and meeting a lot of people who have played important roles in college football over the years.”

The NFF Awards Dinner will begin at 7 p.m. on WatchESPN.com.

Calhoun is the only Southeastern Conference representative who is a NFF National-Scholar Athlete this season. The Morton native is the fourth Mississippi State player to be selected as a NFF National Scholar-Athlete since the program’s inception 56 years ago, and the first since Derek Sherrod in 2010.

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.