The Champs Sports Bowl, jewel of the mighty Florida Citrus Sports cartel, will need all the excitement the surrounding Orlando metro area can provide to infuse life into the two milquetoasty teams the game itself will feature. Tom O'Brien versus Bill Stewart: Who you got?
The 8-4 Wolfpack, on offer from the ACC, reeled off a 4-0 start that included wins over a solid Central Florida team and outfits from Cincinnati and Georgia Tech that looked solid at the time, before losing three of their next five. This included the rare spectacle of a shootout defeat against Virginia Tech, a second high-scoring loss to East Carolina two weeks later, and a baffling 14-13 road defeat at the hands of Clemson.
The No. 22 Mountaineers, 9-3, are also emerging from a season in which they contended for a conference title down to the final week while also being beset on all sides by ridiculous losses. They played then-No. 15 LSU close in Week 4, but back-to-back trip-ups against Syracuse and UConn betrayed a laughably inept offense that couldn't capitalize on talented personnel.
The 2010 Champs Sports Bowl kicks off at 6:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, December 28. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Stay tuned to this StoryStream right up through game time, as we review key unit matchups, odds, bowl history and more, and connect with fans at SB Nation's Backing the Pack and The Smoking Musket. For a complete list of bowl games, browse our 2010 college football postseason schedule.
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