2008 Orange Bowl
The 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Kansas Jayhawks on January 3, 2008, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spread bettors favored Virginia Tech by three points, but in a game dominated by defensive and special teams play, Kansas defeated Virginia Tech 24–21. The game was part of the 2007–2008 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the concluding game of the season for both teams. This 74th edition of the Orange Bowl was televised in the United States on FOX and was watched by more than eight million viewers.
2008 Fiesta Bowl
Per the BCS selection procedure, the bowl games that lost teams to the national championship get first picks for a replacement. The Rose Bowl, after losing top ranked Ohio State, selected Illinois. Next, the Sugar Bowl selected Georgia to replace the #2 LSU Tigers. For the second selection for each bowl, per the BCS selection procedure, the game played nearest the date of the national championship had the first pick. For 2008, this was the Orange Bowl, which selected Kansas. Following the Orange Bowl's select, the Fiesta Bowl had the next pick following lastly by the Sugar Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl committee had a few teams to select from including Arizona State, Hawaii, and Big East champion West Virginia. The committee chose to invite West Virginia who almost made the national championship game before losing their last regular season game. John Junker, CEO of the Fiesta Bowl, said "the selection we had was very simple." If West Virginia had not been selected by the Fiesta Bowl, the Sugar Bowl would have been forced to select them, as West Virginia was guaranteed a BCS bowl berth by virtue of winning the Big East.