| Game Name: | Pop-Tarts Bowl |
| Subheader: | 34th Pop-Tarts Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 28 |
| Year Game Played: | 2023 |
| Football Season: | 2023 |
| Stadium: | Camping World Stadium |
| City: | Orlando, Florida |
| Visitor School: | North Carolina State University |
| Visitor Name Short: | NC State |
| Visitor Nickname: | Wolfpack |
| Visitor Record: | 9–3 |
| Visitor Conference: | ACC |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 19 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 18 |
| Visitor Rank Cfp: | 18 |
| Visitor Coach: | Dave Doeren |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 10 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 9 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
| Home School: | Kansas State University |
| Home Name Short: | Kansas State |
| Home Nickname: | Wildcats |
| Home Record: | 8–4 |
| Home Conference: | Big 12 |
| Home Rank Ap: | NR |
| Home Rank Coaches: | NR |
| Home Rank Cfp: | 25 |
| Home Coach: | Chris Klieman |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 14 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 7 |
| Mvp: | Avery Johnson (QB, Kansas State)[1] |
| Odds: | Kansas State by 3.5[2] |
| Referee: | Larry Smith (Big 10)[3] |
| Attendance: | 31,111 |
| Us Network: | ESPN ESPN Radio |
| Us Announcers: | Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst), and Paul Carcaterra (sideline) (ESPN) Sean Kelley (play-by-play) and Rene Ingoglia (analyst) (ESPN Radio) |
| Different Previous: | 2022 |
The 2023 Pop-Tarts Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2023, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The 34th annual Pop-Tarts Bowl (although the first under that name) featured NC State from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Kansas State from the Big 12 Conference. The bowl was ranked 9th in the fbs, the game began at approximately 5:45 p.m. EST and was aired on ESPN.[4] [5] The Pop-Tarts Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The bowl game's title sponsor was Kellanova (formerly Kellogg's) through their Pop-Tarts brand.
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the bowl featured the NC State Wolfpack of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) against the Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference.
This was the first time that NC State and Kansas State played each other.[6]
See main article: 2023 NC State Wolfpack football team. The Wolfpack entered the game with a 9–3 record (6–2 in the ACC), having finished in third place in the conference and 18th in the College Football Playoff rankings.
This was NC State's sixth Pop-Tarts Bowl, tying Miami (FL) for the most appearances in the game. The Wolfpack had a 3–2 record in prior editions of the game, most recently appearing in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl (when the bowl was played under that name), which they won.
See main article: 2023 Kansas State Wildcats football team. The Wildcats entered the game with an 8–4 record (6–3 in the Big 12), tied for fourth place in their conference and 25th in the College Football Playoff rankings.
This was Kansas State's first Pop-Tarts Bowl.