2010 Champs Sports Bowl

The 2010 Champs Sports Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 28, 2010. The game matched up the NC State Wolfpack from the Atlantic Coast Conference versus the West Virginia Mountaineers from the Big East Conference. The game was scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, Orlando, Fla.

West Virginia
West Virginia enters the game with a 9-3 record and are Co-Champions of the Big East Conference. The Mountaineers were hurt in their quest for the Big East's BCS bid with October losses to UConn and Syracuse. WVU's strength lies in their defense, which ranks 2nd nationally in points allowed and 3rd in yards allowed. The Mountaineers have appeared in eight straight bowl games and were defeated in last year's Gator Bowl by Florida State 33-21. West Virginia has played in the bowl on one previous occasion, in 1995, when it was known as the Carquest Bowl and was played in Miami.

NC State
NC State enters the bowl with an overall record of 8-4. The Wolfpack will attempt to win a bowl game for the first time in coach Tom O’Brien’s four seasons in Raleigh. NC State played in the Papajohns.com Bowl in his second season but lost to Rutgers, 29-23. The strength of the Wolfpack is in their passing game, which is ranked number 19 in the country. NC State has appeared in the bowl three previous times, first in 1998 when the game was known as the MicornPC Bowl and was played in Miami, Florida, and then in 2001 and 2003 when it was played in Orlando but was called the Tangerine Bowl.

Game Notes
The two schools have played each other nine times previously, with WVU holding a 5-4 advantage. They have not played since 1979. This will be the third time that they have played in a bowl game, having played in the 1972 and 1975 Peach Bowls. The bowl series between NC State and West Virginia is split, 1-1: the Wolfpack won the 1972 contest 49-13, and the Mountaineers 13-10 victors in 1975.