Bearcats vs Hokies
Bearcats vs Hokies Thursday night in the 75th edition of the Orange Bowl, the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Virginia Tech Hokies look to bring in the New Year with a BCS bowl win. Odds makers are thinking this one is going to be close calling the Bearcats slight favorites in their first January 1st bowl since 1951. NCAA betting odds have Cincinnati at -2 with the total sitting at 42.

The Bearcats have had a remarkable season posting an impressive 11-2 record and winning the Big East Championship. The Bearcats come in riding a six game winning streak behind their powerful offense.

Cincinnati has piled up 375 yards and 27 points per game this year and has been a model of consistency, scoring between 24 and 30 points in every outing during the streak.

All things would indicate that this matchup will come down to a strength-against-strength scenario: Virginia Tech's defense against Cincinnati's offense.

Virginia
Tech was seventh in the nation, allowing just 277 total yards per game and 13th in scoring defense yielding a mere 17 points per game. The Hokies defense carried them all year. So much so that Virginia Tech was able to get back to the BCS even though the Hokies' offense was statistically one of the lowest-potent in the country.

Even though this match-up lacks some luster in the national spotlight, for the teams on the field, this setting could not be bigger.

Winning this game could enable the Bearcats to finish the season ranked in the nation's top 10 putting Cincinnati "on the map" and more importantly, providing a huge boost to recruiting.

For the Hokies, a win would make them one of only three teams to win 10 games in each of the past five seasons.

Though Cincinnati is very talented and will probably be making some noise again in 2009, on this stage, go with the team that has been there before. Take the Hokies getting the 2 points.