2008 Orange Bowl
In the wake of the Hokies's defeat, Virginia Tech chose to start a new quarterback and a new offensive plan. Behind freshman Tyrod Taylor, the Hokies rolled to five straight victories, including a win over No. 22 Clemson by 18 points. During the winning streak, Sean Glennon, who had started at quarterback for the Hokies during the first two games of the season, returned to alternate possessions with Taylor in an unusual two-quarterback system. On October 25, the Hokies had a chance to make up for their early-season loss to LSU when they faced No. 2 Boston College on a Thursday night in Blacksburg, Virginia. Though the Hokies dominated for most of the game, Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan managed a late-game comeback to win the game 14–10 with 11 seconds remaining.
2009 Big East Conference football season
Cincinnati (11-3) was the Big East champions and got the conference's automatic bid into the BCS and went to the FedEx Orange Bowl, losing to ACC champion Virginia Tech 20-7.
Five other Big East teams went to bowl games in 2008, finishing bowl play with a record of 4-2 as a conference. Connecticut (8-5) beat Buffalo 38-20 in the International Bowl. Pittsburgh (9-4) lost to Oregon State 3-0 in the Brut Sun Bowl. Rutgers (8-5) beat North Carolina State 29-23 in the PapaJohns.com Bowl. South Florida (8-5) beat Memphis 41-14 in the magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl. And West Virginia (9-4) beat North Carolina 31-30 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. The only two teams not to go to a bowl game were Louisville (5-7) and Syracuse (3-9).