Bowl Projections: Why West Virginia Will Nab Big East's BCS Bid

West Virginia is the best team in the Big East.

Therefore, they should be the Big East's representative in the Orange Bowl. Right?

The Mountaineers are ranked 23rd in the latest BCS projections and that is incredibly important as we enter the last week of the regular season.

If WVU and Cincinnati (who lost 24-21 to the Mountaineers) both win next Saturday, they will finish in a three-way tie atop the league with Louisville.

The first tiebreaker is thrown out because all three are 1-1 against each other, the next tiebreaker is determined by BCS standings. Whoever is the highest team in next Sunday's final computer release would be the winner.

Cincinnati plays UConn, a game that is certainly no gimme, and West Virginia plays South Florida.

The Bulls have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the nation and WVU will be the favorites heading into Saturday.

The Mountaineers incredible 13-point comeback against hated rival Pittsburgh is a great example of how strong this team is.

Junior QB Geno Smith (3741 yards, 25 TDs, 5 INTs) is having an outstanding season that is worthy of an invite to the Heisman ceremony. His accuracy is getting better as the season progresses and his decision making has been nothing short of incredible.

His job is a whole lot easier with two of the best receivers in all of college football. Stedman Bailey (1117 yards, 11 TDs) and Tavon Austin (1009 yards, 4 TDs) are both explosive and sure-handed. They easily stretch defenses, which is the main reason why the offense is ranked 20th in the nation.

The defense is their Achilles heel (59th, allowing 26.2 PPG), but it is beginning to show some serious signs of improvement with the second half of the Pitt game being the best example.

The Big East may be an average conference, but the Mountaineers are anything but.

Expect them to emerge from the fog as the Orange Bowl representative, and give their opponent all they can handle when they get there.