Biggest. Win. Ever.

Nobody gave them a chance. They shouldn't even be there, decreed the "experts." They were a weak team who made it to the Sugar Bowl only because everyone else in their conference was even weaker. Their opponent was Georgia, a perennial powerhouse from one of college football's premier conferences. And to top it all off, the game was being played in Atlanta, where Georgia would enjoy an obvious home-field advantage.

But none of that mattered on Monday night, when the West Virginia Mountaineers, a team short on experience but long on heart, shocked Georgia and the nation (and some longsuffering Mountaineer fans) by defeating the heavily favored Bulldogs 38-35. WVU jumped out to an early 28-0 lead, but we all knew that Georgia would mount an inevitable comeback. There were quite a few nervous moments during the second half, but West Virginia never relinquished the lead. Oh sweet victory.

This Sugar Bowl win is, in my humble opinion, the biggest win in WVU football history, because there was so much more riding on this game than just a Top Ten finish. For the Big East to have any chance of keeping its automatic BCS bid status past 2007, West Virginia, as the Big East champion, had to show that they can hang with the more established teams. A loss would have given credence to all those "Big Least" bashers out there who worship at the altar of schedule strength and computer ratings. I'm glad some things are still decided on the field.

The future looks bright for WVU. Fifteen of West Virginia's 22 starters are either freshmen (including the backfield tandem of Pat White and Steve Slaten that ran wild against Georgia and everyone else this season) or sophomores. Mountaineer fans are as enthusiastic as they've ever been, and after WVU's first January bowl win ever, I expect folks will soon start naming their firstborn sons after Rich Rodriguez. The question is if West Virginia will finally get the national respect it deserves. A Top Ten finish this season seems certain, if for no other reason that most of the Top Ten teams have lost their bowl games. Next year's preseason rankings, although meaningless by season's end (just ask Tennessee), will nonetheless provide a good indicator of whether the college football powers-that-be view WVU's Sugar Bowl win as a fluke, or as a harbinger of a team to be reckoned with for several years. I expect they will regard it as a fluke, and they will be wrong again.