Thanksgiving weekend brought some changes to the bowl projections for the three local teams. ESPN already has its bowl projections out and here's what they have to say.
Mark Schlabach now has West Virginia representing the Big East in the BCS, playing Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Andrea Adelson has the Mountaineers headed to Charlotte for the Meineke Car Care Bowl against North Carolina State. Obviously, Friday's win had a lot to do with improving Wes Virginia's bowl outlook. Unless Connecticut loses its last game against South Florida, though, the Mountaineers likely won't be going near a BCS game this season.
Penn State lost on Saturday, however, the Nittany Lions' bowl prospects may have actually improved thanks to Iowa's loss to Minnesota. With a four-way tie (possibly five-way if Illinois wins on Saturday) for the fourth best record in the Big Ten between Penn State, Michigan, Northwestern, and Iowa, the Lions and their well-traveling fanbase may be attractive to the Outback Bowl, which has the third pick of Big Ten teams, behind the Rose Bowl and Capital One Bowl (The Big Ten will likely get a second representitive in a BCS Bowl). Schlabach believes the almighty dollar talks and expects Penn State to move up to the Outback Bowl against South Carolina. Adelson believes the Lions will still play Florida in the Gator Bowl.
And Pitt, poor Pitt. As a result of their loss to West Virginia on Friday, the Panthers are now likely headed to a "punchline bowl." Schlabach believes Pitt will get a rematch with North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl while Adelson expects to see the Panthers in Birmingham, Alabama for the BBVA Compass Bowl against Kentucky. Not exactly a whole lot of prestige in those names...