No. 16 WVU to meet Miami in Russell Athletic Bowl

No. 16 West Virginia (10-2) will play Miami (8-4) in the 2016 Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando.

The two teams were once Big East foes and have met a total of 19 times with the Hurricanes holding a 16-3 advantage. The two teams last met in 2003, a back and forth 22-20 loss for the Mountaineers in a game that is widely remembered for Quincy Wilson’s catch and run.

West Virginia is coming off its first ten-win season since 2011 and the ninth overall in program history and finished third overall in the Big 12 Conference. Meanwhile Miami won eight games in its first season under new head coach Mark Richt and the Hurricanes finished tied for second in the ACC Coastal.

The Mountaineers overall bowl record is 15-19, while the Hurricanes are 18-17 overall. This will mark the first time that the two programs have ever met in a bowl game.

This will be the fourth appearance for West Virginia in a version of the Russell Athletic Bowl with the Mountaineers losing to both South Carolina 24-21 in 1995 and Georgia Tech 35-30 in 1997 in the Carquest Bowl.

The Mountaineers also fell to N.C. State 23-7 in the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl.

Miami won the 1996 Carquest Bowl over Virginia 31-21 as well as the 1998 Micronpc Bowl over N.C. State 46-23. But the Hurricanes lost both the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl to Wisconsin 20-14 and the 2013 Russell Athletic Bowl to Louisville 36-9.

The game will be played Wed., December 28 at 5:30 p.m. inside Orlando Camping World Stadium and will be televised by ESPN.

West Virginia will be AWAY and will be on the east sideline of the stadium while Miami will be HOME and will be on the west sideline.

WVSports.com alongside PrimeSport is offering Official WVU Bowl Game Packages for fans interested in making the trip to Orlando for the Russell Athletic Bowl.

For more information visit: https://www.primesport.com/d/wvsports