WVU Football Receives Most Intriguing Possible Bowl Matchup Yet

Up until this point, most of the bowl game projections have paired WVU against an opponent fans have already seen the Mountaineers face during the Neal Brown era or one that just wouldn’t provide much intrigue. But on the heels of officially clinching bowl eligibility, one national network is throwing out a very interesting matchup prediction.

CBS Sports now has WVU in the Gasparilla Bowl vs. Florida. While this would put West Virginia in a bit of a road game scenario, a flip from playing close home in Charlotte last year, but would also provide a chance to play a big brand out of the SEC.

The Gasparilla Bowl is scheduled to be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Fla. on Dec. 20.

WVU Football Becomes Bowl Eligible After Victory Over UCF

Even though Florida has endured an up and down season of their own, beating the Gators would allow Neal Brown and his team a chance to pick up a statement win.

The Gators are 6-5 (4-4, SEC), but are entering the final week of the regular season coming off back-to-back wins over ranked teams, most notably and most recently a victory over then No. 9 Ole Miss on Saturday.

Comparing the two programs historically:

West Virginia: 

WVU’s all-time record: 783-528-45

Bowl record: 17-23

Conference titles: 15

Claimed national titles: 0 (fans often argue the program should claim 1922 but WVU has not done so officially)

Florida:

All-time record: 760-447–40

Bowl record: 24-24

Conference titles: 8

Claimed national titles: 3

Despite both owning a long history, the two programs have only played twice. WVU won the first meeting in 1981 and Florida won the 1994 Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl loss handed Don Nehlen’s Mountaineers their first defeat of the entire 1993 season that preceded the major bowl game.

For a related story, oddsmakers have WVU as a slight underdog in their regular season finale at Texas Tech.