MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia will be paired with Arizona State in the Jan. 2 Cactus Bowl, a game short on prestige but rich with storylines as the Mountaineers face off against former defensive coordinators Todd Graham and Keith Patterson.
Settle in for a late-night kick. The game starts at 10:15 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
It will be played at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Mountaineers (7-5, 4-5) finished fifth in the Big 12 standings yet fell to the league’s seventh bowl affiliate after losing 24-23 to Kansas State in Saturday’s regular-season finale. That outcome catapulted the Wildcats (6-6, 3-6) into a Liberty Bowl matchup against Arkansas.
Arizona State (6-6, 4-5), a preseason picked to challenge for the Pac-12 South title, was manhandled 38-17 in its season opener against Texas A&M and started conference play with a 42-14 loss to USC. The Sun Devils finished 1-6 against teams with winning records.
Graham served as West Virginia’s linebackers coach in 2001 and co-defensive coordinator in 2002. After climbing to head coach ranks at Rice and Tulsa. He became Pitt’s head coach in 2011 before leaving for Arizona State after one season. He’s 34-18 since taking over in Tempe.
Patterson was Graham’s defensive coordinator at Pitt before spending the 2012 and 2013 seasons at West Virginia.
The Sun Devils will be without offensive coordinator Mike Norvell, who left this week to become the head coach at Memphis.