Who was the biggest loser on Saturday night? It might be the Mountaineers. But let's face facts. If WVU practiced a little better ball control, they would be in a BCS Bowl. Turnovers cost them the Syracuse and UConn games. It might be the Big East itself. The conference is now being represented in the BCS by an 8-4, unranked team. It could be the Fiesta Bowl. They will lose revenue and TV ratings by hosting Oklahoma against unranked OConn.
But in my opinion, the biggest loser was The Orange Bowl.
The Orange Bowl officials were watching the UConn/USF game just as intently as any Mountaineer or UConn fan. They wanted a UConn loss. They needed a UConn loss. They had a shot at a fantastic matchup. A matchup which would fill their stadium, something that hasn't happened in the last few Orange bowls. A matchup that would generate sports show talk. A matchup that would produce great television ratings, and therefore great revenue. They were licking their chops when UConn blew a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter. They were
rooting against that 52 yard field goal attempt with 19 seconds left. But the kick was good, and the Orange Bowl lost. They lost big. They lost a chance to reignite a rivalry. They lost a chance to have WVU and Virginia Tech meet in the Orange Bowl.
It would have been great. WVU and Tech had a great rivalry until Tech moved to the ACC. The two teams haven't played since. The Orange Bowl really lost. With the history the two teams have, the marketing would have written itself. What a shame.
So who was the biggest loser? You decide. The Mountaineers will play in good bowl, but not a great one. That's a loss. The Virginia Tech and West Virginia fans wont see a great bowl game between their schools. That's a loss. The Orange Bowl does get #4 Stanford against #13 Virginia Tech. So that's not a real big loss. You know what, I changed my mind. I know who the biggest loser is. This guy:
