You are looking live at Camping World Stadium, site of today’s Russell Athletic Bowl between No. 14 West Virginia and Miami. It’s a pretty good coup for the bowl itself. Miami is Miami, or The U, if you must, and it will always have cache and especially in Florida. But the Hurricanes were very good at different times this season — first early and now late — and reached the top 10 after a 4-0 start.

The Mountaineers give the bowl some significance, too. They have 10 wins, after all, and they, too, were in the top 10. That brings me to an interesting point about the life WVU now lives. Consider WVU’s past 10-win seasons and where they finished:

2011: Orange Bowl
2007: Fiesta Bowl
2006: Gator Bowl
2005: Sugar Bowl
1993: Sugar Bowl
1988: Fiesta Bowl
1969: Peach Bowl
1922: East-West Christmas Classic

The opponents? No. 14 Clemson, No. 3 Oklahoma, Florida State, No. 8 Georgia, No. 8 Florida, No. 1 Notre Dame, South Carolina and Gonzaga. Let’s disregard the 1969 and 1922 games. Is this game the … worst? … of the lot? Ten wins got WVU into the third Big 12 bowl. Different world, this one. (Aside: Speaking of WVU and the Wishbone, the 1969 game was Jim Carlen’s famous Wishbone surprise.)

We’ve diced and devoured this one for a while now. What do you say we get into the fun stuff? And by that, I mean wait for the midfield melee before kickoff! Because as I type this …

Shelton Gibson just finished a drill by sprinting a long way into the end zone and flashing a U down at some random Miami fans.

— Mike Casazza (@mikecasazza) December 28, 2016