West Virginia was more than happy to take the SEC’s spot in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl

Dec. 5—MORGANTOWN — The Charlotte Sports Foundation was in a tough spot on Sunday.

The CSF has contracts for teams in the ACC and SEC to play in its Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, NC ; however, the SEC did not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fulfill its contracts this season and the ACC took a long time to decide which of its teams were playing in what bowls.

That led to West Virginia, of the Big 12, to work into the picture and eventually set a matchup with the ACC’s North Carolina on Dec. 27 (5:30 p.m., ESPN).

“The whole bowl season you end up playing whack-a-mole almost every year ; this one just had more of them, ” CFS executive director Danny Morrison said over Zoom Tuesday. “The fact that the Big 12 had an extra bowl-eligible team certainly worked out well in our favor. West Virginia is a perfect fit for us and our bowl and we were able to get a quality opponent in North Carolina. It’s one of those days where there seem to be moving parts all throughout the day and then you get thrilled at the matchup you have at the end.”

Not only was the Duke’s Mayo Bowl happy to take West Virginia, but the Mountaineers were even happier to go.

“We’re really excited about representing the Big 12 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, ” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “Sunday was an interesting day, but I think it landed in a really good place.

“You usually find out your bowl assignment pretty quick. The ACC took a long time and so I didn’t find our bowl assignment until I was sitting in a home visit on Sunday night. I couldn’t be more pleased, a great location, great bowl game.”

Morgantown being within driving distance of Charlotte (about six hours) was a big plus for both sides.

“As you work through all of the various scenarios, you try to come out with what might make the most sense, ” Morrison explained. “The best bowl experiences are…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/west-virginia-more-happy-secs-033300353.html

Author : The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Publish date : 2023-12-06 03:33:00

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