MORGANTOWN — West Virginia athletic department sources confirmed that the Sugar Bowl is off the table for the Mountaineers, squelching a brief glimmer of hope that popped up among fans with the release of the latest College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night.
The sense of confusion stems from the fact that the SEC and Big 12 have different policies regarding which teams are selected to play in the Sugar Bowl.
The SEC clarified Tuesday that it will send its highest-ranked team that does not reach the CFP semifinals to the Sugar Bowl, which will be played at the Louisiana Superdome on Jan. 1.
The Big 12 has not released any statement clarifying which team would be sent to the Sugar Bowl, should Oklahoma qualify for the CFP.
The issue wasn’t relevant last year since the Sugar Bowl was one of the national semifinals, negating its usual contractual obligation to match the best non-playoff teams from the SEC and Big 12. Last year was the first year for the Big 12 championship game, and with no automatic New Year’s 6 tie-in, loser TCU went to the Alamo Bowl after falling to Oklahoma.
No. 14 Texas is just two spots ahead of No. 16 West Virginia in the CFP rankings, and in theory a blowout loss to the Sooners could drop the Longhorns below the Mountaineers in the final rankings that are released this Sunday. Given that West Virginia beat Texas on its home field, that scenario seems especially plausible. But it also won’t matter.
According to multiple WVU sources, their understanding from the Big 12 is that the runner-up of the championship game will always receive the Sugar Bowl bid in the event that the league champion reaches the playoff.
Depending on whether Oklahoma reaches the playoff, the Camping World Bowl in Orlando and the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio loom as the most likely postseason destinations for the Mountaineers.
