ORANGE BOWL PREVIEW

January 1, 2009


Happy New Year!


Cincinnati Bearcats fans get to ring in the New Year from Miami (FL) as the Big East BCS representative takes on Virginia Tech of the ACC in the Orange Bowl.

UC won the Big East conference with a 6-1 record and finished the season with an 11-2 record, falling only to national championship game participant Oklahoma and a conference loss at Connecticut.

Virginia Tech, a former member of the Big East, reached the Orange Bowl by avenging an earlier season loss to Boston College by beating the Eagles, another former Big East school, 30-12 in the ACC Championship game. The Hokies were 9-4 on the regular season.

Current college football odds show the Bearcats as 2 1/2 point favorites. The Big East already has wins over North Carolina (WVU) and NC State (Rutgers) in bowl action and look for a three-game sweep of their ACC counterparts this bowl season.

Look for UC to continue the strong Big East bowl season with a win today. The Cincinnati defense is strong and their offense is very underrated.

Prediction:

Cincinnati 23
VA Tech 17