A few notes and observations after a whipping in Morgantown.

• Been trying to figure out what this means to UConn's bowl chances. We knew there'd likely be no Sun Bowl with a loss, as John Folmer said as much on the blog a few days ago. But will a 44-point loss on national TV scare away the Meineke Car Care Bowl, which has had a crush on UConn up 'til tonight? It might depend on how Rutgers fares against Louisville Thursday. With USF likely headed to El Paso, I would think UConn is a more attractive option for Charlotte than Cincinnati in terms of fan base and TV ratings. If Rutgers is an option, and they have to win in order to be selected ahead of UConn, that could change things. But the bad loss may have sealed the Huskies a post-New Year's date in Toronto no matter what.

• Funny thing is, if you said UConn would be playing in Toronto back in August, the entire state would be ecstatic. Now, after coming within a win of a BCS, it's as anti climatic as it gets to be in Canada playing a MAC opponent.

• What could have been with a win? The always inconspicuous Orange Bowl reps and their bright Orange sport jackets, were in attendance at Milan Puskar Stadium.

• West Virginia is heading to the BCS national championship game, and Randy Edsall says it will win it all if it avoids turnovers. “The only way West Virginia loses is if they turn the ball over,” Edsall said. “If you don’t get turnovers against them, ain’t nobody going to beat them. If they protect the football next week, they’ll get to the national championship game and they will be national champs. They’re that talented.”

• Edsall also endorsed Pat White for the Heisman. He should after the clinic White put on today. “I’m not sure that there is anyone better than him,” Edsall said. “He’s got my vote. He’s a tremendous athlete. I told him after the game I think he should come out after this year. Hopefully he’ll take my advice. But I haven’t seen anyone better than him.”

• It was still a ballgame at the half, and if not for the two UConn turnovers that resulted in 14 West Virginia points, the Huskies might have held a 14-10 lead instead of being down 24-14. "We were definitely confident at halftime," UConn's Donald Brown said. "It was a 10-point game. We wanted to keep doing what we were doing and not make mistakes. But they made the most of our mistakes."

• White was unreal, but he was hardly a one-man wrecking crew in the second half. Five players for the Mountaineers finished with runs of at least 31 yards, four of them came in the second half. Noel Devine (118 yards rushing) could be better than Steve Slaton right now, and the kid's only a freshman.

• UConn's strategy was to get its fastest players on the field to attempt to contain West Virginia's offense. That's why Robert Vaughn didn't play. It worked fairly well in the first half. White and company simply wore the defense down in the second half. "That's the type of offense they have," UConn's Dan Davis said. "They're a big play offense. They're not going to grind you, they go for the home run on every play. That's what they did. They're a national championship team. I'm rooting for them the rest of the way."

• You'll never hear them say it, but the Big East stood to lose a lot if UConn won tonight. West Virginia gives the conference its best shot of winning a national championship in years. Not counting Miami, the last current member of the Big East to win a title was Pitt in 1976.

• Edsall got a little annoyed with some media when they began hinting that play-calling in the first half played a part in the loss. Whether you agree with the play calls or not, it didn't make any difference at all tonight. West Virginia's offense looked like an NFL team beating up on a high school opponent in the second half. They are that good.

• The Huskies will meet on Sunday, take some time off and then get back to practicing at the end of the week.

Not looking forward to travel Sunday morning. Airports will be nuts, NYC traffic insane. But I'll see you tomorrow.