BCS Rankings: West Virginia Loses BCS Title Hopes with Terrible Loss to Syracuse

The West Virginia Mountaineers were beaten badly, 49-23, by Big East rival Syracuse tonight at the Carrier Dome, and it's a loss that destroys the Mountaineers' BCS title hopes.

The victory was Syracuse's first over a top-15 team in nearly a decade.

The Mountaineers now must set their sights on the Big East title, but with their loss to the Orangemen on Friday, they are in second place in the conference.

West Virginia was ranked No. 15 in the first BCS rankings that came out last Sunday, and although their chances of ranking up to a possible title-game berth were slim, there are plenty of teams ranked higher who could lose before the regular season ends.

The Mountaineers' high-powered offense, which has averaged more than 40 points per game this season, was not as explosive as it usually is against Syracuse on Friday.

West Virginia has the third-ranked passing attack in the nation (at just over 380 yards per game), but could not find the effectiveness through the air against the Orangemen that they've enjoyed throughout the season.

The loss to Syracuse comes as a bit of a surprise—not because the Orangemen are less talented than West Virginia, but because the Mountaineers have a very good team and have had a great first half of the season. 

Their only loss before Friday night was against No. 1 LSU, and they have looked as good offensively as they did a few years ago when quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton led the Mountaineers to a BCS bowl game.

West Virginia is still a quality team, but with a loss to Syracuse and few quality teams remaining to play in order to improve their BCS rankings, the Mountaineers must now set their sights on winning the Big East and earning the automatic BCS bowl game bid that comes with it.