Champs Sports Bowl Live Blog: West Virginia vs. NC State Analysis and Notes

Welcome to the live blog of the Champs Sports Bowl between the No. 22 West Virginia Mountaineers of the Big East and the ACC's North Carolina State. The Mountaineers are coming in with a 9-3 record for the season, while the Wolfpack finished at 8-4 in 2010.

I'm Michael Carvelli, a WVU featured columnist here at Bleacher Report as well as one of the WVU football beat writers for the school's student newspaper, The Daily Athenaeum.

Any questions or comments can either be submitted down in the comments section below or sent to me on Twitter @Carvelli3.

Pregame Notes

• WVU starting center Joe Madsen, backup defensive lineman Josh Taylor and backup defensive back Eain Smith were all ruled academically ineligible for the bowl, but according to Patrick Southern of Blue-Gold News, all three are listed on the team's dress list. More on that will come as the game gets closer.

• Starting cornerback Brandon Hogan is out with a torn ACL for the Mountaineers. It's likely that sophomore Pat Miller will get the start in his place.

• Current NC State head coach Tom O'Brien has a history of playing the Mountaineers, as he was the head coach at Boston College when they were in the Big East.

• West Virginia has one of the top defenses in the country and will be tested against the Wolfpack's Russell Wilson, who is one of the best quarterbacks that they have faced all season.