The Big East does not get a lot of respect as a football conference around these parts, and by these parts, I mean the whole country. West Virginia isn't going to be able to single-handily change the perception of the conference with one win, but it could go a long way, according to Andrea Adelson of ESPN.
No Big East team has been embarrassed in a BCS game the way West Virginia embarrassed Clemson in the Discover Orange Bowl. What was supposed to be an offensive shootout certainly was on the West Virginia side of the field. Clemson delivered duds in the form of turnovers, missed tackles and blown assignments.
They mention in that article that before the game a poll on ESPN about who would win the Orange Bowl returned results 73 percent in Clemson's favor. West Virginia must have felt the disrespect and came out to prove a point. Not just about themselves, but about their conference, even though they are going to be on their way out fairly shortly.
We'll have coverage of the Orange Bowl up to and through the big game in this StoryStream. For more on the two teams, check out Tigers blog Shakin' The Southland and Mountaineers blog The Smoking Musket.